[7 Wishes]

I'm impressed with your wife, I went to an engineering college in upstate NY that Sikorsky recruited from like mad back in the day (I'm in my mid 40s now), but I had heard that they nowadays they were mostly cutting back and had hiring freezes (though on drives to Hartford from Westchester for occasional seminars on workdays the last couple of years the view of their lot where the Merritt becomes the Wilbur Cross they looked pretty "full" to me).

Glad to hear a 'good news' story like this about this region and especially for a big historic local tech employer.

As for your questions, pretty much what the others have said, I'll just say, look east and north, not west where (unless you want to live in the city of Bridgeport, a couple of decent sections if kids/schools not an issue but for the most part pretty bad and you can find a lot better elsewhere) prices are amongst the highest in the entire US! Best of luck and welcome!

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

They are crazy (apparently the craziest in the country in 2009), as their mill rate is about double what the average town is in CT. Still, if you take that list of taxes and compare 50% of Bridgeport's property taxes (average CT town), most CT municipalities would still come out in the top spot. We have extremely high property taxes here - that's pretty factual.

That being said, it might be 800k in Seymour, but perhaps 2+ million in Fairfield, Woodbridge, Newtown, etc. My point was that the payment of a mortgage for an average house in Rockford including property taxes would still be less than a similar payment in CT.

No doubt. I'm still surprised that their value/tax ratio is so insane there. Taxes on an 80k house is worse than mine.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Stylo

No doubt. I'm still surprised that their value/tax ratio is so insane there. Taxes on an 80k house is worse than mine.

It's really because the towns and cities out there are struggling more than almost anywhere else in the country. The unemployment rate is close to 14% (60% higher than the national average). It's similar to Bridgeport in terms of high poverty, relatively low housing and high taxes. But in CT, most of our affluent towns have very high taxes as well. It really comes down to a lot of excess - each town having their own high schools with 3 assistant principals and a head principal, each town having a fully staffed police department, etc. Sure it creates better standardized testing scores and gives it a little more of a "pressure cooker" environment, but is it worth it? If Milford and Stratford combined services, and Monroe/Newtown, and Oxford/Southbury, and Westport/Weston, it would save a ton.

Another reason I think is NIMBYism - opposing businesses coming in that would bring tax revenue. That's why Shelton's taxes are kept in line - they practice smart growth and are pretty business friendly. I never understood why Milford and Orange have such high taxes - they have a ton of revenue coming in.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

It's really because the towns and cities out there are struggling more than almost anywhere else in the country. The unemployment rate is close to 14% (60% higher than the national average). It's similar to Bridgeport in terms of high poverty, relatively low housing and high taxes. But in CT, most of our affluent towns have very high taxes as well.

Yeah, I guess if your average property values are below 100k and it's probably difficult to collect from many people, along with subsidies in housing (Illinois is a pretty liberal state) - it does make sense.

[poodlecamper]

[quote=7 Wishes;22113756]I'm impressed with your wife, I went to an engineering college in upstate NY that Sikorsky recruited from like mad back in the day (I'm in my mid 40s now), but I had heard that they nowadays they were mostly cutting back and had hiring freezes

They extended a retirement package this past Fall---DH considered it, but health insurance wasn't included, so no go.
This week, we received a letter enumerating how well they're doing overall-----also this week, received notice that there will be 5 days off without pay, spread throughout the coming year, for hourly workers.
Kind of contradictory.

[spr1975wshs]

Hey all;

Thank you for your responses, quite a lot to digest.

Our current house is a 3 bedroom/2 bath ranch (about 1300 SqFt, full basement) with a 3 car attached garage on a lot that is about 2 1/2 times the footprint of the house/garage (about 5000 Sq Ft). Property taxes are about $4600.00 on a valuation of around $149,000 [assessment of about $67,000])...we expected that the government "skim" would be substantially higher.

My mom has a 100 year old house in West Springfield, MA that has been very well maintained over the years (2-story, 4 beds, 2 baths on a standard lot about twice as big as the house's footprint including an old, 1 car detached garage), and I am aware how much she pays...the car tax will be a really new, unwelcome change.

We thought Illinois was bad, considering that we were born in Taxachusetts (the Pay State, the Communistwealth...).

We are trying to downsize the amount of Stuff we've accumulated in about 30 years of marriage, but have grown used to that size of house (we would like a larger yard).

Renting is problematic, we have 4 elder cats who will be moving with us (ranging in ages from 10 - 13). We are also veterans of several military moves, plus my wife is very frugal vis-a-vis housing dollars...

I'm a former enlisted combat engineer, plus I've worked either in the building trades or related retail for quite some time, some bit of "fixer-upper" in a house would not be scary...

We were not considering going either west or south of Stratford, nor close to New Haven.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by spr1975wshs

Renting is problematic, we have 4 elder cats who will be moving with us (ranging in ages from 10 - 13). We are also veterans of several military moves, plus my wife is very frugal vis-a-vis housing dollars...

I'm a former enlisted combat engineer, plus I've worked either in the building trades or related retail for quite some time, some bit of "fixer-upper" in a house would not be scary...

There are always plenty of homes in North Stratford that are in need of updating. You won't have a problem finding something like that in a good neighborhood for <$200K.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Another reason I think is NIMBYism - opposing businesses coming in that would bring tax revenue. That's why Shelton's taxes are kept in line - they practice smart growth and are pretty business friendly. I never understood why Milford and Orange have such high taxes - they have a ton of revenue coming in.

Well let's not go through this again. Milford taxes aren't high on homes. On vehicles, yes - high-ish due to a 28.89 mill rate. Home taxes are pretty low due to the method of assessment. As low as Shelton's for a similarly valued home, since Shelton taxes the property as well as the structure (like most CT municipalities) while Milford taxes the structure alone. If it weren't for that fact, I would be paying more like $7,000 instead of $5,400 on my house given our mill rate. I feel like a broken record regarding that.

It does allow more tax income from businesses and commercial, as well as from vehicles from renters - while keeping home taxes low and very competitive. Works for me.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by spr1975wshs

Hey all;

Thank you for your responses, quite a lot to digest.

Our current house is a 3 bedroom/2 bath ranch (about 1300 SqFt, full basement) with a 3 car attached garage on a lot that is about 2 1/2 times the footprint of the house/garage (about 5000 Sq Ft). Property taxes are about $4600.00 on a valuation of around $149,000 [assessment of about $67,000])...we expected that the government "skim" would be substantially higher.

My mom has a 100 year old house in West Springfield, MA that has been very well maintained over the years (2-story, 4 beds, 2 baths on a standard lot about twice as big as the house's footprint including an old, 1 car detached garage), and I am aware how much she pays...the car tax will be a really new, unwelcome change.

We thought Illinois was bad, considering that we were born in Taxachusetts (the Pay State, the Communistwealth...).

We are trying to downsize the amount of Stuff we've accumulated in about 30 years of marriage, but have grown used to that size of house (we would like a larger yard).

Renting is problematic, we have 4 elder cats who will be moving with us (ranging in ages from 10 - 13). We are also veterans of several military moves, plus my wife is very frugal vis-a-vis housing dollars...

I'm a former enlisted combat engineer, plus I've worked either in the building trades or related retail for quite some time, some bit of "fixer-upper" in a house would not be scary...

We were not considering going either west or south of Stratford, nor close to New Haven.

You will pay more for that home in the Stratford area. About $250,000-$300,000. But your taxes should be similar, maybe a wee bit higher or lower depending on what town you choose.

Don't knock being close to New Haven. The only problematic town near New Haven is West Haven, and that doesn't include the whole city. Just like the part of Stratford that borders Bridgeport. A select small area is sketchy, but most of Stratford is very safe. Other towns near New Haven like Orange, Woodbridge, North Haven, Wallingford, Hamden, etc. are great towns with very little issues. Don't think of the crime and issue as radiating. They're pretty damn isolated to select neighborhoods. That's how CT rolls. Economic segregation is strong.

[spr1975wshs]

Originally Posted by Stylo

You will pay more for that home in the Stratford area. About $250,000-$300,000. But your taxes should be similar, maybe a wee bit higher or lower depending on what town you choose.

Don't knock being close to New Haven. The only problematic town near New Haven is West Haven, and that doesn't include the whole city. Just like the part of Stratford that borders Bridgeport. A select small area is sketchy, but most of Stratford is very safe. Other towns near New Haven like Orange, Woodbridge, North Haven, Wallingford, Hamden, etc. are great towns with very little issues. Don't think of the crime and issue as radiating. They're pretty damn isolated to select neighborhoods. That's how CT rolls. Economic segregation is strong.

Our main issue with being too close, too large a collection of any people. Only big crowd functions we go to are craft beer fests, as both of us are home brewers. Crime's not a major concern, we've never lived like targets.

One thing that strikes me about the conversations surrounding Stratford and the area is the mention of actual, functional neighborhoods. That is a part of New England life we've not seen elsewhere, except when we were stationed at the USAF base near Omaha, NE.
That's what I grew up with in West Springield, as did my parents during their childhood in Chicopee and Springfield.

I know that is not a panacea for the changes wrought by the 30 years away, but it's a start.

Thank again!