[simpleup]

thank you for the info and link

[flu189]

Originally Posted by simpleup

we will be renting for awhile but eventually we would love to purchase a home in VT - wondering on property taxes - since most seem to say they are high. here in MA we have a 4br home with 2477 sq ft of living space with a property tax of $3,600.00 a year. curious as to the comparison.

Ha, ha, my 2550 sq ft home carries a $6,900 bill and it climbs every single year. All this for living in the sticks on a dirt road with no public utilities, trash pickup, or other aspects which are customary with tax bills. Also, do calculate your property transfer tax into the equation should you buy as right now it is 1.25%. Do your homework, crunch the numbers, get your cost data from the actual sources and not just from word of mouth. It's your future so do what you can to understand what you are getting into to avoid disappointments down the road.

[simpleup]

Originally Posted by flu189

Ha, ha, my 2550 sq ft home carries a $6,900 bill and it climbs every single year. All this for living in the sticks on a dirt road with no public utilities, trash pickup, or other aspects which are customary with tax bills. Also, do calculate your property transfer tax into the equation should you buy as right now it is 1.25%. Do your homework, crunch the numbers, get your cost data from the actual sources and not just from word of mouth. It's your future so do what you can to understand what you are getting into to avoid disappointments down the road.

how many acres of land is that 2550 sq ft home on? we do not have trash pick up either, we purchase a dump sticker and go to the transfer station. thank you for you advice - we have been doing some vigorous research the past few days on all the financials

[NYLIER]

We have a 3,000 square foot home and are taxed $8,000. a year....$5,000. of it is school tax. We were raised $500. last year just in school taxes. This is utterly ridiculous!!

[MTK1]

I posted this on another relocation post in the VT forum last month. I suggest you read it and look at the tax data.

4 Vt. Counties in top 100 of tax bills

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/a...NTPAGECAROUSEL

Chittenden County and three other Vermont counties made the list of the 100 U.S. counties with the highest median property tax bills, according to a Tax Foundation study of U.S. Census data.

Ten Vermont counties fall in the top 100 U.S. counties that have the highest share of income being gobbled up to pay property taxes -
(As a note Vermont only has 14 counties)

[tkln]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

Wow! I wonder where he was? As with many small towns, Killington covers a broad range of area and he might have been in a remote corner of the town.

There are year-round residents in Killington so there is a market, a general store, and other shops. Even in June, Killington Road restaurants and shops are open all week long, including at night. Route 4 West from Killington to Rutland has a few restaurants open on weeknights all year long. And Rutland is 15 minutes away with the usual small city offerings of restaurants and stores open every night.

Sheryl - it is VERY possible that he was in a corner of town, he was up there doing a project so didn't spend a lot of time driving around, just went to the hotel and to get food and then off for his assignment....he most certainly could have missed a whole lot of stuff. Wouldn't put it past him.

[MRVphotog]

Originally Posted by tkln

My fiancé was in Killington last year, around June if I remember correctly. He was there for three or four days and when he got there, he called me and told me the only thing open asides from his hotel was a diner. Everything else was closed. He had arrived mid-week, so I told him maybe it would change on Friday/Saturday, but it was the same situation. I had always assumed that Killington, while a resort town, would have a substantial year-round population but maybe not?

Sounds like he was at the Killington Resort base area, not a town. In June(off-season) many of the businesses around the base area and along the Killington Access Rd are closed as they are mostly restaurants, bars and lodges. Many re-open in late June when the summer gets going.

Yup, property taxes are high in Vermont. The newly re-elected Gov has promised to force the Vermont legislature to work on Act 60/68. The School Revenue/Property Tax law. Not holding my breath.

As mentioned if you have a large home with a high assessed value in a town with a high local tax rate(state rate is the same for every town) your going pay thru the nose.

Killington and Mendon(part of Killington and all of Pico are in Mendon) are high but there are several other towns within 30 minutes of Killington which have lower rates.

Cell phone service have been abit of an obstacle for some in Vermont but big changes have recently happened(AT&T>Unicel) and some other new projects will greatly improve that sooner rather than later. One very interesting project was just announced.
A novel plan for cell service: Times Argus Online

Good luck on your quest!

[flu189]

Regarding the tax burden data for counties, when you pull up the list on pdf for all 1800+ counties you can see the ranking and amounts based on the percentage of tax to the value of the property and also the percentage of tax to median income. We are right up there in both categories. Then when you compare this data to other states which also tax income and merchandise via sales tax we are really up there. Again, for some this is insignificant, but for most people I know it is very much a burden.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by flu189

Killington is a nice area, but you have to understand that the town (formerly named Shelburne) consists primarily of seasonal homes. Check the tax rates to see if it fits into your economic plan. I appreciate the notion of family time and if you have the means Vt can be great. I was fortunate that when my kids were school age my wife was able to be there for them and coordinate activities, but this was in of all places, Alaska. I assumed that I would see a substantial drop in COL by coming back east to Vt and have actually found that in sevral areas the COL is notably higher coupled with a higher tax burden across the board. To be honest with what we make here this luxury of a single employed parent household would not be possible. The cost of living can and does bust many dreams and ambitions here for the quest for simple life. The cost of living is high especially in relation to income levels, but for some this is not an issue. I just found out today that my military housing allowance which I'll draw on my upcoming deployment jumped substantially and in fact falls into the top twenty rates nationwide out of several hundred geographical rates. This is a good indicator as to cost of living as the rate is calculated annually based upon two separate cost surveys linked to housing, insurance, and utility costs and not heavily weighted to rank as basic pay is.

Wasn't there a movement for Killington to secede from VT about 5 years ago and wasn't it over taxes?

[expatvermonter]

Vermont is getting expensive because people are moving here from Massachusetts. I would highly advise staying in Massachusetts. Or better yet let Killington secede and move the whole thing to Mass! You get my drift?