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HA! Try $5200.00 per year on a house worth 250K (Retail, not assessment) NOT including another $1000 per year for two modest vehicles. (yes personal cars are property taxed!)
I won't argue that CT is expensive.....but I laugh (not at you) when people leave one new england state for another to avoid high taxes. depending on your situation NH is probably the only state "overall" with a low tax burden, and thats because they do a great job of exporting their taxes. Otherwise, New england sucks politically, big goverment, big goverment spending, big government hand outs. I will not elaborate which party is the majority in Ma, CT, ME, NY, RI, VT and which one is in control in NH (unfortunately its changing)
Love New england....no other place like it.....but the taxes...OUCH!!
and as far as $5200 for your house at $250000.......its about the same here in Auburn......our mil rate is $20 per thousand of valuation. but we also pay 8.5% income tax, 5% sales tax, and tons of little extra's.
there's no escape unless you want to change you style of living. Forest has done a great job of going remote (but still close enough to a city) to be more self relient and avoid higher taxes. It relieving to know there are some places left where you can "get off the gird" sort of speak. PS I'll have to try some of that Clausthaler, though I do drink beer. I wonder if they make a non-alcoholic beer kit
Consider Sabattus. It borders Lewiston and is an easy commute to just about anywhere in Lewiston or Auburn. As for taxes, you'll have to check, I know my parents, who pay that bill, aren't crazy about it, but I don't know how they compare to L/A. The new exit there is nice and as for scenery...think woods and farms. My parents bought their place about 6 years ago. They got a great price for such privacy (20 acres on a dead end road), have neighbors who actually check in on my mom durring storms when the power is out, and yet they're still close to everything. A bonus of Sabattus as far as location is that it's the same distance to go to Brunswick/Topsham area to shop as it is to go to L/A area (depending on exact location of course). There are things in the B/T area that L/A doesn't have and vice versa, so it's nice to be in the middle. I'm in the process of adding some pictures of Sabattus to my album right now, feel free to check them out.
Beautiful pics of Sabattus! Thanks for posting them!
I won't argue that CT is expensive.....but I laugh (not at you) when people leave one new england state for another to avoid high taxes. depending on your situation NH is probably the only state "overall" with a low tax burden, and thats because they do a great job of exporting their taxes. Otherwise, New england sucks politically, big goverment, big goverment spending, big government hand outs. I will not elaborate which party is the majority in Ma, CT, ME, NY, RI, VT and which one is in control in NH (unfortunately its changing)
Love New england....no other place like it.....but the taxes...OUCH!!
and as far as $5200 for your house at $250000.......its about the same here in Auburn......our mil rate is $20 per thousand of valuation. but we also pay 8.5% income tax, 5% sales tax, and tons of little extra's.
I agree with the majority of your post for sure...And I too am in the same position. Love New England, no place like it...but it's changing on many fronts good and bad - fast, and the taxes are horrible.
But I do have a few points to make about the comparison.
1. I am in one of the lower tax areas here and you are comparing to one of the highest there. I think the average home property tax here is about $9000 a year, not including vehicles. I'm paying $6200 a year in property taxes for a nice but 53 year old ranch home on 1.7 acres and two "regular" vehicles alone.
2. My home in Auburn can be had for about $150K or so (Lower valuation)
3. We are by far the highest taxed state in not only New England, but the nation. It's horrible. I won't bore you with details, but trust me...it's horrible, and frankly unlivable unless you earn 140K household or make less than 40k household so you qualify for ever program under the sun from daycare to home heating oil. I'll take a break any way I can get it. My car insurance alone will go down about $1100 a year just for the new address!
4. New Hampshire is changing very very fast and for the worst and IMHO will be not much different then MA in 5-10 years. A good friend just moved to Ashuelot NH and while he's saved a bunch now, he sees what's coming. And frankly when things do change, they will also be saddled with the current high property taxes then not offset by lower taxes elsewhere. Plus NH doesn't have the same feel as ME IMO. Nice, but not the same.
When I see a decent modest home in the Gray area selling for about $200K, and the taxes seem to be about $2100 per year - combined with no vehicle tax, MUCH lower insurance rates that alone makes me get giddy.
Combine that with the really bad "urban" influx we have going on here (Tons of "less desirables" moving up from NJ and NYC every month) and it's enough to make someone who values self reliant New England "simple living" jump out of their skin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flycessna
there's no escape unless you want to change you style of living. Forest has done a great job of going remote (but still close enough to a city) to be more self relient and avoid higher taxes. It relieving to know there are some places left where you can "get off the gird" sort of speak. PS I'll have to try some of that Clausthaler, though I do drink beer. I wonder if they make a non-alcoholic beer kit
Yea I hear you...I'm not trying to escape, but get a little bit of a break and raise my family in an area not so focused on living at warp speed to pay for the $750K McMansion and "BMW" and also avoid the outright urban thuggery mindset and culture that is simply invading our cities. I live in a fairly safe small city (Little smaller than Brunswick) and the face of this small city - the last decent small city in the state really, has changed so much in the last 6 years I can't in good mindset say it's okay for my wife and baby son to even take a trip downtown to the local library without walking past "urban thugs" and riff raff just hanging around causing trouble.
As for the beer: Try that Clausthaler...it's really really good. It was my crutch to get off the real stuff. Kind of tastes like a Heiniken a bit...but not so skunky. I'd bet if I didn't tell you it was NA you wouldn't know.
To answer Maineah I used to drink lots of varietys. Thomas Hooker (Local Hartford Beer) IPA was great, Blue Moon is another, of course the run of Sam's choices...I think Cherry Wheat was my favorite. Tried that Blue Paw you have up there...it was fun for the first 12 pack, then it got old quick.
I also like other beers like Red Stripe (Jamacian), Rolling Rock, Sapporo (Japanese), Moretti (Italian) and a few others to break the monotany here and there.
And...it was good to slum on some Miller High Life once in a bit - has to be ICE cold and in a glass bottle though.
We are by far the highest taxed state in not only New England, but the nation. It's horrible. I won't bore you with details, but trust me...it's horrible, and frankly unlivable unless you earn 140K household or make less than 40k household so you qualify for ever program under the sun from daycare to home heating oil.
When I see a decent modest home in the Gray area selling for about $200K, and the taxes seem to be about $2100 per year - combined with no vehicle tax, MUCH lower insurance rates that alone makes me get giddy.
Almost 10 years ago, a friend of mine from central CT said, quite nonchalantly, that a couple needed to earn at least $120,000 to live comfortably in CT. Took awhile to restore my jaw to its normal position.
But hold on, what do you mean by "no vehicle tax" in Gray? I would assume they have an excise or property tax that must be paid before registration is issued or renewed, like other towns...
Almost 10 years ago, a friend of mine from central CT said, quite nonchalantly, that a couple needed to earn at least $120,000 to live comfortably in CT. Took awhile to restore my jaw to its normal position.
But hold on, what do you mean by "no vehicle tax" in Gray? I would assume they have an excise or property tax that must be paid before registration is issued or renewed, like other towns...
Yea, that sounds about right.
To afford a 3 bedroom colonial type home (Average colonial, not a McMansion), pay the taxes, own two "newer" cars, utilities, health care and auto insurance costs and all the nickle and dime stuff...it's about that if you want to have a little bit to put aside each month.
My wife and I have a combined income over 100K - probably closer to that 120K and we are living on a tight budget and I kill myself to make that money. No joke. We have one car with payments, some small CC debt, and a 200K mortgage. That's it!
Insurance for both cars alone (We are middle aged with good driving records) is about $3000 per year!
I have a $250.00 per year tax just for the pleasure of having LLC paperwork on my business, we have the highest gas tax in the nation, 5.5% income tax that is going up 10%, government fees out the you know what etc etc.
Oh and did I mention in all this that my property tax is going UP by about $700 per year!
It's very expensive to live here. Very expensive.
Anyhow, enough about this over taxed state...
How is valuation done in the L/A area? Here it's about 70% of market value. Do they go by the market value or a percentage?
Can anyone recommend a site that lists mill rates for the towns and cities?
Edit: We pay vehicle tax EVERY YEAR here...not just when you purchase. I pay $1000.00 per year just for the pleasure of owning two "newer" regular vehicles. Plus registration/plate and emission fees.
To afford a 3 bedroom colonial type home (Average colonial, not a McMansion), pay the taxes, own two "newer" cars, utilities, health care and auto insurance costs and all the nickle and dime stuff...it's about that if you want to have a little bit to put aside each month.
My wife and I have a combined income over 100K - probably closer to that 120K and we are living on a tight budget and I kill myself to make that money. No joke. We have one car with payments, some small CC debt, and a 200K mortgage. That's it!
Insurance for both cars alone (We are middle aged with good driving records) is about $3000 per year!
I have a $250.00 per year tax just for the pleasure of having LLC paperwork on my business, we have the highest gas tax in the nation, 5.5% income tax that is going up 10%, government fees out the you know what etc etc.
Oh and did I mention in all this that my property tax is going UP by about $700 per year!
It's very expensive to live here. Very expensive.
Anyhow, enough about this over taxed state...
How is valuation done in the L/A area? Here it's about 70% of market value. Do they go by the market value or a percentage?
Can anyone recommend a site that lists mill rates for the towns and cities?
Edit: We pay vehicle tax EVERY YEAR here...not just when you purchase. I pay $1000.00 per year just for the pleasure of owning two "newer" regular vehicles. Plus registration/plate and emission fees.
and i complain about registration every year...
i live 13 miles south of the state capitol (augusta), have waterfront property,
my property taxes jumped this year over 100!! now its 860.00
property taxes, vary depending what town you live in, if i were in a neighboring town, id be paying over double the amount of taxes.
i have a paid for lincoln (within ten years old), insurance is 360 a year..
my electricity payment has been around 50.00 mnth
i shut my boiler off (hwbb furnace) so im not using oil, and hope not to use it til november (i do have a woodstove)
i have a well and septic,,so no added payments for water/sewer
i share some of this personal info,,, because maine gets a bad rap about high cost of living, and very high taxes..
How is valuation done in the L/A area? Here it's about 70% of market value. Do they go by the market value or a percentage?
Can anyone recommend a site that lists mill rates for the towns and cities?
Edit: We pay vehicle tax EVERY YEAR here...not just when you purchase. I pay $1000.00 per year just for the pleasure of owning two "newer" regular vehicles. Plus registration/plate and emission fees.
Each town's website gives their mil rate, as far as I've researched. Kind of tiresome to do that though; perhaps there's a master list out there in Google-land.
I've paid excise tax (property tax) on vehicles in both ME and MA in the past 10 years. Most recently, I stupidly re-registered cars in MA a month before heading back to ME....sigh....being "legal" is costly....anyway, for the same 2 cars, I paid about $90 excise in MA, and shortly afterward, about $200 in ME. The registration fees were about the same. However, where I lived in ME before the stint in MA, the excise was pretty cheap - don't remember exactly now, but it wasn't anything to get excited about.
If you have the option to choose between several towns in Maine, you can always factor their tax rates into your choice for affordability. The difference between locations up here may be greater than you'd find in southern New England.
Another possible location might be Gray/Raymond area. I am in raymond. 30 minutes to portland, L/A, Oxford hills ( norway, paris, oxford ) bridgton. All these areas and nice and have things to do. There are some very nice spots in these towns with nice views.
Taxes are going to be high most areas close to town, and will vary depending upon your house. My ranch is 1100 sq ft and I pay $2100 on 10 acres. Not much for views as I am on the side of a hill, but I do have privacy.
What you might save in property taxes you would end up paying in gas for traveling. Get an efficient car, and it might work out in your favor. We have thought of moving closer to portland where we work, but still enjoy the quiet and privacy we have more.
We are by far the highest taxed state in not only New England, but the nation. It's horrible. I won't bore you with details, but trust me...it's horrible, and frankly unlivable unless you earn 140K household or make less than 40k household so you qualify for ever program under the sun from daycare to home heating oil. I'll take a break any way I can get it. My car insurance alone will go down about $1100 a year just for the new address!
Thats a hard debate....so I am not trying to prove you wrong. Taxes are subjective and I just want to give you some stats. There has been a long debate about mainers only having the highest "tax burden" (when per capita tax is pegged to our unusually low per capita income) but make no mistake.......our taxes are high and the more you make the more they will take.
Our property taxes run 3.45% of our income where as in CT your property taxes are 5% of your income. Maine's per capita income is around $32000 and ct is $50,000
But consider this; the $5,045 each citizen paid to the great state of maine (on a per capita basis) THERE WERE ONLY 7 STATES AND DC COLLECTED MORE FROM THEIR CITIZENS ON A PER CAPITA BASIS.
1. DC $7,873///2.CT $6,756///3.NJ $5,991///4.MA $5,419///5. VT $5,387///6. MD $5,341///7. RI $5291/// CA ?
But you still have to consider our per capita income as being extremely low. In 2006 Maine was only 1 of two states to see their per capita income DECLINE!
It is very relevent to me that our beloved neighbor to the west and south (NH), that doesn't tax income or sales, and rated 2nd best for lowest taxes, collected only a per capita average of $3,504. And their per capita income is $40,000
I am not disagreeing with you, there are many opportunities to come here and live on the cheap IF you do your homework. My parents came here from Ma and have regretted it. They have since sold their house here in Auburn and are going to reformulate their plan of living here (low tax town close to NH for tax free shopping)
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Pass the glass
and taxes in general 
