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Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,543,919 times
Reputation: 6253
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoreau424
And yet there are people who live in those states, love them, and wouldn't move anywhere else. One person's aching bellyache is another's yawn. Not everyone is obsessed and foaming at the mouth over taxes.
Persons in those states could easily throw out their own lists of states most burdened with ________. No state exists in perfection. I'm glad and thankful we have choices, unlike other countries. Appreciate the US or go elsewhere.
Let me translate this for you:
"Never criticize the US because MURRICA!!! FLAGS! BURGERS! COWBOYS!"
Now that we're past that nonsense... nothing gets better without criticism. Nothing. I'm from NY, around two thirds of my family is. for the most part, we're not very well off and never were. The rising tide of taxation in NY state takes millions of people like us and pretty much starts to kick us off of our land and push us deeper into poverty with no way back out.
There is a very real cost of living problem in NY that is crushing its under-classes. It should be addressed, not simply accepted because MURRICA, LOVE IT 'ER LEAVE IT!
It sounds like you're a liberal, living in a liberal place, and are happy with that, paying high taxes and all. More power to you.
I respect liberals who actually put their money where their mouths are. I've found that most "Democrats" preach the liberal rhetoric yet behind closed doors are total fiscal conservatives and try to avoid paying extra taxes just as much as guys like me do. I don't know many people who truly want to pay the government one red cent more than they have to...
It does make sense though, no one is trying to tell the state how to tax. No matter how one lives, we must buy our fair share of products. With Tenn even taxing a grocery bill. I can see how everything and anything being sale taxed. Could really add up fast for a low income resident of Tenn. Even with the lack of income tax. It must be a real struggle for the poor and low income senior.
It sounds like you're a liberal, living in a liberal place, and are happy with that, paying high taxes and all. More power to you.
I respect liberals who actually put their money where their mouths are. I've found that most "Democrats" preach the liberal rhetoric yet behind closed doors are total fiscal conservatives and try to avoid paying extra taxes just as much as guys like me do. I don't know many people who truly want to pay the government one red cent more than they have to...
You would be wrong about your assumptions. I am an Independent and a Centrist. You see the US is so hyper partisan people only think of the world/politics right now in black and white. There are people in the middle (or close to the middle) you know.
* I want to help the truly needy but not people who want to make welfare a career.
* I want strong borders and an immigration system based on merit system.
* I do not believe in Sanctuary cities or states
* Wall Street needs restrictions but not so may that business can't function.
* My state CT government is bloated with wild salaries and pensions which needs to be reigned in.
The next one will shock you.
*My town government was getting so bloated I voted Republican across the board in my towns last election. But that does not mean I don't want the kids to get good education.
But over all the one thing I know is that education is the great equalizer and we should try to give our kids the best educations as possible.
You would be wrong about your assumptions. I am an Independent and a Centrist. You see the US is so hyper partisan people only think of the world/politics right now in black and white. There are people in the middle (or close to the middle) you know.
* I want to help the truly needy but not people who want to make welfare a career.
* I want strong borders and an immigration system based on merit system.
* I do not believe in Sanctuary cities or states
* Wall Street needs restrictions but not so may that business can't function.
* My state CT government is bloated with wild salaries and pensions which needs to be reigned in.
The next one will shock you.
*My town government was getting so bloated I voted Republican across the board in my towns last election. But that does not mean I don't want the kids to get good education.
But over all the one thing I know is that education is the great equalizer and we should try to give our kids the best educations as possible.
I stand corrected, then.. I really was under the impression that you were a liberal.
I agree with each one of your bullet points, and would officially consider myself "center right".
Back to taxes..
It's just inexpensive to live here, bottom line, and the QOL is great. Half of my in-laws from Rochester are dying to move down here because they love it and will save considerable money.
My DH and his twin brother who lives in Rochester make literally just about the same salary and DH's paycheck is $450 more bi-weekly. They also pay around $5000 a year in property taxes for a house they bought for under 100k. We bought a $235k house (bc we can afford more than double) and pay $1200 a year for property taxes. Their mortgage payment is more in taxes than to the actual mortgage. I just can't get past that, couldn't stand for it. Luckily DH never desires to move back there. That plus tolls, car inspections, .75c more expensive gas, etc. etc. it just adds up fast.
That said, it's a really nice place and I enjoy visiting there. I could just never pay those taxes.
Agree 30 yr CT resident. Have family and friends here, but time to move out. Was looking at Texas and one job I looked at would be taking a $5 an hour pay cut, but making the same I make in CT with inexpensive housing options.
I stand corrected, then.. I really was under the impression that you were a liberal.
I agree with each one of your bullet points, and would officially consider myself "center right".
Back to taxes..
It's just inexpensive to live here, bottom line, and the QOL is great. Half of my in-laws from Rochester are dying to move down here because they love it and will save considerable money.
My DH and his twin brother who lives in Rochester make literally just about the same salary and DH's paycheck is $450 more bi-weekly. They also pay around $5000 a year in property taxes for a house they bought for under 100k. We bought a $235k house (bc we can afford more than double) and pay $1200 a year for property taxes. Their mortgage payment is more in taxes than to the actual mortgage. I just can't get past that, couldn't stand for it. Luckily DH never desires to move back there. That plus tolls, car inspections, .75c more expensive gas, etc. etc. it just adds up fast.
That said, it's a really nice place and I enjoy visiting there. I could just never pay those taxes.
I looked over the stats for Rochester. I would not want to live there either frankly. Rochester's median household income $31,693 (ouch that's bad) and I can not imagine how they pay those high property taxes.
In my opinion the high cost of living is a good thing.
Lets compare my town in Fairfield County to yours. For my town I am using city-data. For your town I had to use Point2Homes.com. (I am guessing West Knoxville is not it's own city) We are going to talk about the average person in each town. I happen to be the average for my town. We make a little less in HH income but our house is about the same. My husband and I have average middle class jobs. We paid $155,000 for our house 20 years ago.
Trumbull Household Income: $117,163......House Value: $402,112.....When my husband and I retire we will be getting about $60,000 a year in Social security alone because of the high incomes here so that is average for my town.
West Knoxville Household Income: $45,697.......House Value: $131,618......Average Social Security about $30,000 (or less) for 2 people.
Look at what my social security and equity from my house will be at the end of a middle class working life (not to mention other investment but I left that out of the comparison). My husband retires in 3 years so I know that social security number is 100% correct. Look what inflation and the high COL did for our incomes and net worth in retirement. I would rather be me.
My mom and dad retired to NC for about 5-6 years. The area they lived in NC was nice, it was an upper middle class area. I remember my mom's neighbor saying "your mom and dad are rich". I said "no they were middle class people in CT". Then she said "well down here they are rich". See what the power of the high COL did for them too.
Do we pay more taxes, yes. But at the end, look what we have. BTW, Uncle Sam help pay for my house with all the tax write-offs for it.
I looked over the stats for Rochester. I would not want to live there either frankly. Rochester's median household income $31,693 (ouch that's bad) and I can not imagine how they pay those high property taxes.
In my opinion the high cost of living is a good thing.
Lets compare my town in Fairfield County to yours. For my town I am using city-data. For your town I had to use Point2Homes.com. (I am guessing West Knoxville is not it's own city) We are going to talk about the average person in each town. I happen to be the average for my town. We make a little less in HH income but our house is about the same. My husband and I have average middle class jobs. We paid $155,000 for our house 20 years ago.
Trumbull Household Income: $117,163......House Value: $402,112.....When my husband and I retire we will be getting about $60,000 a year in Social security alone because of the high incomes here so that is average for my town.
West Knoxville Household Income: $45,697.......House Value: $131,618......Average Social Security about $30,000 (or less) for 2 people.
Look at what my social security and equity from my house will be at the end of a middle class working life (not to mention other investment but I left that out of the comparison). My husband retires in 3 years so I know that social security number is 100% correct. Look what inflation and the high COL did for our incomes and net worth in retirement. I would rather be me.
My mom and dad retired to NC for about 5-6 years. The area they lived in NC was nice, it was an upper middle class area. I remember my mom's neighbor saying "your mom and dad are rich". I said "no they were middle class people in CT". Then she said "well down here they are rich". See what the power of the high COL did for them too.
Do we pay more taxes, yes. But at the end, look what we have. BTW, Uncle Sam help pay for my house with all the tax write-offs for it.
That median household income for Rochester is just for the city, which also has a range of neighborhoods and only covers 35-36 square miles(about 208,000 people).
Also, property taxes in the city are generally lower and the home prices for even very nice homes in the city aren’t that high, comparably speaking.
I’m assuming that by “Rochester”, the poster is referring to a suburb.
I also provided comparable information for both areas(key word due to COL variation in NY State) earlier in the thread, which shows that overall COL in the Rochester area is just under/around the national average, while having a higher pay in comparison to Knoxville. A lot of this will depend on the situations one compares as well.
I am curious about if any tax exemptions are included in that property tax bill in Rochester though.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 03-10-2018 at 09:53 AM..
I looked over the stats for Rochester. I would not want to live there either frankly. Rochester's median household income $31,693 (ouch that's bad) and I can not imagine how they pay those high property taxes.
In my opinion the high cost of living is a good thing.
Lets compare my town in Fairfield County to yours. For my town I am using city-data. For your town I had to use Point2Homes.com. (I am guessing West Knoxville is not it's own city) We are going to talk about the average person in each town. I happen to be the average for my town. We make a little less in HH income but our house is about the same. My husband and I have average middle class jobs. We paid $155,000 for our house 20 years ago.
Trumbull Household Income: $117,163......House Value: $402,112.....When my husband and I retire we will be getting about $60,000 a year in Social security alone because of the high incomes here so that is average for my town.
West Knoxville Household Income: $45,697.......House Value: $131,618......Average Social Security about $30,000 (or less) for 2 people.
Look at what my social security and equity from my house will be at the end of a middle class working life (not to mention other investment but I left that out of the comparison). My husband retires in 3 years so I know that social security number is 100% correct. Look what inflation and the high COL did for our incomes and net worth in retirement. I would rather be me.
My mom and dad retired to NC for about 5-6 years. The area they lived in NC was nice, it was an upper middle class area. I remember my mom's neighbor saying "your mom and dad are rich". I said "no they were middle class people in CT". Then she said "well down here they are rich". See what the power of the high COL did for them too.
Do we pay more taxes, yes. But at the end, look what we have. BTW, Uncle Sam help pay for my house with all the tax write-offs for it.
You're comparing "your town" to the whole of Knoxville. In general, I get it, I'm sure your area is nice as it's basically a suburb of NYC. However, I invite you to look at Farragut, which is my town, not just "Knoxville". Zip code 37934. Household income over 100k and median home value above 300k. I don't see how we are in any worse shape for SS than you, as our HH income is sizable and will only increase. We are decades away from retirement, though (and hoping/assuming SS will still be alive and well then). We just bought our first house and already have at least $60,000 in equity, in 13 months, according to the appraisal we just had done.
Other than being close to NYC I see no advantage you hold over "my town", especially for the very high taxes you pay. For some the higher COL is worth it just for that location, and I get that. However we pay pennies on the dollar what you do in taxes. Zero state income, zero personal property, and about $1300 a year in property taxes. For a very nice house.
Look at what the low COL, and low taxes, (hence more money to save/invest) are currently doing for us when we do retire.
I would rather be me.
You pay crazy taxes and I still fail to see how it's worth it, or what you "have" that I don't.
Last edited by Yac; 12-14-2020 at 01:09 AM..
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