TN Sales Tax & other TN info

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

ROFL! Go out for dinner and look at how much I missed! So many tax questions, so little time!

My favorite is the "Does it get hot and humid in the summer in Tennessee?" question.


:-)


I'm so bad.

[ss20ts]

Originally Posted by alleycat

they don't mention the fact that the water department has always been a place to do someone a political favor by getting their brother-in-law a job with the department.

That's the real secret!

It is good to hear what folks are paying. Gives me an idea even if it's a range. I used to think our water bill was high, but it doesn't seem really too far off from other areas. It averages $90 every quarter. The summer months are higher. There's only 2 of us plus the pets and they're not into taking daily showers.

[ss20ts]

Originally Posted by alleycat

My favorite is the "Does it get hot and humid in the summer in Tennessee?" question.


:-)


I'm so bad.

Only when the bugs and snakes make their annual appearance. You have to check for Southern accents in the snakes. Anything else is an impostor. LOL

[alleycat]

We do get a few off-the-wall questions here. We generally try to be nice about them and explain whatever someone wants to know.

We had a lot of fun with one of the new transplants from New Jersey who asks if cows were dangerous since where she'd moved had cows in the neighborhood. I told her to be careful because cows like to hide in trees and jump out at people. Someone else told her it was utterly ridiculous. She was a good sport about it all.

Just don't ask what area has the best barbecue. That can cause fistfights.

[ss20ts]

Originally Posted by alleycat

We do get a few off-the-wall questions here. We generally try to be nice about them and explain whatever someone wants to know.

We had a lot of fun with one of the new transplants from New Jersey who asks if cows were dangerous since where she'd moved had cows in the neighborhood. I told her to be careful because cows like to hide in trees and jump out at people. Someone else told her it was utterly ridiculous. She was a good sport about it all.

Just don't ask what area has the best barbecue. That can cause fistfights.

Cows? Ok...Now I've heard everything!

Oh I've seen the BBQ fights on the NC forums....it gets UGLY FAST. Does TN have similar BBQ? The pork vinegar based sauce kind? I know what that is so it gives me something to compare it to. I know they have several ways of doing it, too. But it seems like the basics are the same - pork and vinegar based sauce.

My hubby had BBQ last night....Chicken BBQ...I'm from up north. What the hell do we know about BBQ? LOL

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by ss20ts

That's the real secret!

It is good to hear what folks are paying. Gives me an idea even if it's a range. I used to think our water bill was high, but it doesn't seem really too far off from other areas. It averages $90 every quarter. The summer months are higher. There's only 2 of us plus the pets and they're not into taking daily showers.

That's funny. My water bill is much higher. About $50 a month.

Alleycat is right. There are lots of excuses. When I first moved here it was about $28. That shot up fast. They said the system needed upgrading. Moved into the city and that water company is upgrading, too. Imagine that!

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by ss20ts

What a difference! We have gas and electric. It's too cold and expensive here to heat with electric. You'd go bankrupt after a week. My whole bill for this past month is $246.53 and it wasn't even really cold!

That's true. My mother's electric bill was almost $1,000 for one month, this past winter. That alone makes me not move back.

[leonard]

Originally Posted by alleycat

My favorite is the "Does it get hot and humid in the summer in Tennessee?" question.

:-)


I'm so bad.

Compared to what?

Having lived in the Outer banks of NC, Tennessee does seems by comparison to have low humidity.

I do believe that Tennessee is a good place to move, if you do not like high humidity.

[mbmouse]

Electricity and water DO vary a lot between cities and towns here in TN. But then, so do the circumstances that go along with utilities and other cost of living.
When I lived in Greeneville I was paying about $100 a month in electricity, $20 a month in water but had to buy fuel oil for the furnace which was about $1.40 a gallon (back in 2000-2005) and had to buy about 800 gallons a winter, no AC. I had no garbage pick up, had to bring trash to the "convenience center". (dumpsters in a fenced in area.) Property tax was $128 a year. (nope, not a typo )
Then I moved to Washington County, N.Johnson City. For about the same square footage house with a heat pump verses a furnace: Electricity $225, water/sewage/trash pick up at the house $113 a month, property tax $528 a year.
Difference: Greeneville, I had to drive over 15 miles into town for groceries, hardware and such. No work so had to drive 50 plus miles each way for work.
Johnson City, less than 8 miles for grocery and hardware, work less than 20 miles.
So yea, I pay a bit more in property taxes (but still supper low!) and a bit more in electricity, lots more for water, but a whole lot less in gas, which can really add up. Not to mention the wear and tear on the car. Plus I spend a lot less time commuting and more with the family, which is much more important than money in my opinion.
I bought a car in 2004 when I lived in Greeneville and worked in JC. First year I put 25k miles on it just driving back and forth to work or to shop. Moved to JC in 2005. Since 2006 I have put 10k-15k miles a year on it, but then again, I do a lot more than just driving back and forth to an office now, I do a lot of driving for work, but still.

[IndigoIntheWest]

Originally Posted by psr13

Well, our sales tax in CA is now almost as high as 9 percent. Plus, we have way higher taxes for everything else. That and our schools are horrible.

I was hoping there would be someone else here from Canada.....nonono, just kidding, I mean Calli foor nah. Thanks to the Govenator our sales tax does top 9% in some counties but food and uncooked products is 0%.

Taxes on everything else are nuts which is why we're looking to move and its true our schools are BAD. I think CA ranks 48 nowadays.

This is a great thread and I'm learning alot. Thanks

IndigoIntheWest