[CTartist]

Originally Posted by WouldLoveTo

Good lord, give it up! You like it here, we get that. Everyone you know likes it here, we get that too. You make a good living and feel good about helping the less fortunate out. (I will PM you my address after I post this).

But geez - $10.97 tax for a FEW WEEKS worth of groceries. His property tax is likely under $1000 - well under from what I see unless you're in a million dollar home in an area like Brentwood.

I'd rather pay $10 tax for a weeks worth of groceries there than $4500 property tax for a small house on a small lot here.

Would Love To,

I am one of the few in this thread who would want to show some positives about CT but I guess a different point of view is not OK with you.

Why or how did you come to the conclusions in bold?

BTW, I am the one of the struggling middle class of FFC but even so I do feel good about helping those less fortunate than me. I do advocate a progressive tax system even if I pay a little more to better society. Taxing groceries in VERY regressive and hurts the poor.

About the house taxes. The man lived in Nashville TN though if he is poor he might not own his own home. So lets assume he does.

Average taxes in Nashville are $2200. The average HH income from City-data is $54,310.
https://www.bizjournals.com/nashvill...-stack-up.html

So you are paying twice as much for property tax (4,500) but I bet you make almost twice as much in HH income up in CT. It's all relative.

[WouldLoveTo]

Originally Posted by CTartist

Would Love To,

I am one of the few in this thread who would want to show some positives about CT but I guess a different point of view is not OK with you.

Why or how did you come to the conclusions in bold?

BTW, I am the one of the struggling middle class of FFC but even so I do feel good about helping those less fortunate than me. I do advocate a progressive tax system even if I pay a little more to better society. Taxing groceries in VERY regressive and hurts the poor.

About the house taxes. The man lived in Nashville TN though if he is poor he might not own his own home. So lets assume he does.

Average taxes in Nashville are $2200. The average HH income from City-data is $54,310.
https://www.bizjournals.com/nashvill...-stack-up.html

So you are paying twice as much for property tax (4,500) but I bet you make almost twice as much in HH income up in CT. It's all relative.

This is the bold I am supposed to explain "Everyone you know likes it here, we get that too. You make a good living and feel good about helping the less fortunate out."

How did I come to that conclusion? Because you have said it, more than once. I am going to bold a statement that supports part of that above as well.

Different points of views are great. But it's been post after post after post.

My household income is WAY less than the $54,310 you posted from Nashville. Sorry. I could live with 54K and $2200 in property taxes. What I make vs what I pay in reality are obscene.

Believe what you want, we get taxed to death in CT - and much of the northeast for that matter. If YOU feel good about helping others, perhaps you can pay extra taxes so those of us who are struggling can breathe now and then.

Personally, if I am going to" help those less fortunate than me", I'd like to have the choice of charity, not just some general pot.

[Tetto]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You would not say that if you were trying to support a family on minimum wage. I am sorry but taxing groceries is just WRONG. Jay

Then don’t have children if you can’t afford them. People who have minimum wage jobs should not pump out 3-4 kids when they can barely financially support themselves.

[ayoskillz]

Originally Posted by CTartist

That is true but Wall Street is a train ride away in Westport.

Can you give us the town so we can see the differences. I had been looking at the Charleston area for retirement. I noticed there is quite a disparity in the surrounding towns just like there are major differences in between Westport, New Canaan and Darien etc. than other parts of Fairfield County.

One town I was looking into is Mount Pleasant SC. I know someone from Darien that moved there and they love it. If a person from Darien says Mount Pleasant is nice I am sure it is. But I found after looking at Mount Pleasant the prices comparative condos were about the same or more as the Branford/Guilford/Madison area of CT.

But the biggest difference is thr taxes. Home prices in mt.pleasent are high but taxes are really low and it is comparable to cities in lower ffc. You can get a 800k+ house with taxes a little over 4k. Thats unheard of in ct. Plus you pretty much have all your same stores, services as cities ct. Minus being close to NYC.

I just went to ct this past weekend and past by service place in lower ffc of 95 and gas was 2.95 for reg. Of course when i got to Fairfield it was still 2.75. Came back to sc and gas was $ 2.20 and thats in charleston area which is usually higher compared to the rest of the state

[markfromct]

Originally Posted by ayoskillz

But the biggest difference is thr taxes. Home prices in mt.pleasent are high but taxes are really low and it is comparable to cities in lower ffc. You can get a 800k+ house with taxes a little over 4k. Thats unheard of in ct. Plus you pretty much have all your same stores, services as cities ct. Minus being close to NYC.

I just went to ct this past weekend and past by service place in lower ffc of 95 and gas was 2.95 for reg. Of course when i got to Fairfield it was still 2.75. Came back to sc and gas was $ 2.20 and thats in charleston area which is usually higher compared to the rest of the state

That's correct. I have a friend that lives in MT Pleasant, His Prop tax is around 1K for a 350K house. Up here my Prop tax is 6.5K for a 320K house. I can't think of any services I get that he doesn't that justifies the difference.

[LMPA]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

X2.

Some people just have no idea what it’s like to live somewhere else. It’s crazy.

Exactly.. there is life, and experiences outside of Connecticut.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by CTartist

Average taxes in Nashville are $2200. The average HH income from City-data is $54,310.
https://www.bizjournals.com/nashvill...-stack-up.html

The 'burbs south of Nashville where you want to live are far higher than that.
Williamson County:
Sales tax (on everything) is 9.25%
Median household income $106K
Median home (house or condo) price: $427K

The mill rate in the unincorporated part of the county with zero services is $21.50
Franklin in town center: $31.066
Franklin, rest of town: $24.876
Brentwood: $24.90

A typical nothing special $500K single family home is paying $10K to $15K in property taxes. That's the math anywhere with no state income tax where college educated professionals live. You need to pay for the schools, roads, police/fire, trash pickup, water/sewer, etc somehow.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Oh come on. You can’t even compare the difference between property taxes and a minor grocery tax.

If you are higher income and own a home, yep. If you rent and you're struggling to put food on the table for your family, taxing food is a very regressive tax.

Of course, in Connecticut, the gasoline tax is also a very regressive tax. Lower income people need to drive to work, too. Ditto the crazed auto property tax where lower income people are still paying big taxes on that Hyundai Accent they need to get to work.

[LMPA]

Originally Posted by CTartist

Would Love To,

I am one of the few in this thread who would want to show some positives about CT but I guess a different point of view is not OK with you.

Why or how did you come to the conclusions in bold?

BTW, I am the one of the struggling middle class of FFC but even so I do feel good about helping those less fortunate than me. I do advocate a progressive tax system even if I pay a little more to better society. Taxing groceries in VERY regressive and hurts the poor.

About the house taxes. The man lived in Nashville TN though if he is poor he might not own his own home. So lets assume he does.

Average taxes in Nashville are $2200. The average HH income from City-data is $54,310.
https://www.bizjournals.com/nashvill...-stack-up.html

So you are paying twice as much for property tax (4,500) but I bet you make almost twice as much in HH income up in CT. It's all relative.

As more leave, you can bet those taxes are going higher and higher.

I don't understand why you keep quoting average HH income... irrelevant. It does not reflect each individual person/family.

Many have taken the same income, and moved to areas that don't tax to death.

Taxing groceries compared to no income tax, low real estate taxes, cheaper gas, cheaper electricity rates, cheaper vehicle registration, cheaper car insurance rates etc more than makes up for taxes on groceries. If a family spends $100 a week on groceries that equates to less than $400 year.

Your inability to see that many do not feel that cost of living in Connecticut is worth what you get is ridiculous. I don't need to knock Connecticut to make me feel better that I moved, but I also don't need you telling us that we are receiving subpar everything regardless of where we moved.

We all make individual choices based on our situations. Time will tell for all of us if it was a good decision.

I loved many things about the state, but the middle class is being squeezed out.

The bright light to Connecticut is the growth at General Dynamics.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by LMPA

As more leave, you can bet those taxes are going higher and higher.

This is a myth.

Connecticut has a net inward migration of white collar professionals. Those are the people who pay all the taxes. The outward migration is lower income people who don't pay a heck of a lot of tax. A Millennial Starbucks barista moving to the south isn't going to budge the needle and there are 10 people lined up for that Starbucks barista job.