Hidden Costs by Town

[airunxc]

A general concept would be if the town has commercial/industrial tax base then other residential or fees are not as high. If schools are good, chances are taxes/fees are high. There are some other factors related to town debt, capital projects, etc. that impact these variables, but that would be the basic premise.

[mmyk72]

My town charges for trash (you buy designated bags to put the trash in or they won't pick up). This was instituted a few yrs ago. I remember when the curbside trash pickup was free, so essentially adding a trash fee is a form of a 'tax hike'. Also, you pay to dispose of each appliance, tv, monitor, bed, etc. Some towns don't charge for this.

At least we get 2 weeks of yard waste pick up in the fall and spring. But some towns have it year-round.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Yeah, it's 2 miles at least for the older kids. All kindergarteners get picked up door to door, I believe - state law.

I just looked it up - it's actually free for K-6 if you live over 2 miles away. Grades 7-8 need to pay $350 regardless of distance. No freebies for kindergarteners who live within 2 miles. I hope Sudbury's not breaking any state law. Interestingly, Grades 9-12 get free bus regardless of distance. I live over 2 miles from every school in town, so it doesn't matter to me.

[Brave Stranger]

Be careful about "private roads" in town. Many towns & cities have them, even in the inner suburbs. If you need to pave over the road you live on it's up to you & the neighbors to pay up, and it's not cheap.

[masshawk]

Here are the water and sewer rates for MWRA towns. They label it "average annual water and sewer rate," which I take to mean how much the average resident pays in a year (so it should really be "costs," not "rate" IMO). It sounds a little high to me – I have 3 adults constantly showering and doing laundry/dishes, and I only pay $500-600 a year... then again, we don't water our lawn except in drought whereas I see lots of sprinkler systems and super green lawns around us.

What's crazy to me is the giant difference between Belmont, Arlington, and Watertown, which are right next door, or Everett, Chelsea, and Revere... You'd think it'd be about the same to pipe water to and from communities right next to each other with similar terrain. I wouldn't have guessed Reading for the highest.

Everett $998
Waltham $1182
Malden $1295
Boston $1305
Arlington $1341
Chelsea $1456
Watertown $1477
Somerville $1489
Lexington $1508
Brookline $1541
Framingham $1543
Medford $1636
Quincy $1711
Stoneham $1776
Revere $1874
Winthrop $1914
Newton $1921
Melrose $1943
Milton $1976
Belmont $2265
Reading $2346

[robr2]

Keep in mind that each town can charge what it wants even if it is on the MWRA system. Each municipality is responsible for maintaining its water and sewer systems and the cost of maintenance is included in the rates.

[GeoffD]

Oil is cheap now but when it goes back to $100/barrel, a big "hidden" cost is the lack of natural gas infrastructure in a lot of places. Of course, with the gas pipeline capacity problem and the NIMBY people uniting with the global warming freaks preventing more pipeline capacity from being added, natural gas in New England is massively expensive compared to other parts of the country.

When I was house shopping 6 1/2 years ago, I rejected anything that didn't have natural gas. That's not strictly a "per town" thing since lots of towns have densely populated sections with natural gas in the street and rural sections without.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Oil is cheap now but when it goes back to $100/barrel, a big "hidden" cost is the lack of natural gas infrastructure in a lot of places. Of course, with the gas pipeline capacity problem and the NIMBY people uniting with the global warming freaks preventing more pipeline capacity from being added, natural gas in New England is massively expensive compared to other parts of the country.

When I was house shopping 6 1/2 years ago, I rejected anything that didn't have natural gas. That's not strictly a "per town" thing since lots of towns have densely populated sections with natural gas in the street and rural sections without.

I think I saw more homes with oil heat with wood burning stoves than NG conversions in my search.


While wood burning stoves are a nice alternative, but California has already started trying to phase them out and ban then, along with fireplaces. As with anything CA does, you can only expect other states (especially blue states) to follow along.

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

When I was house shopping 6 1/2 years ago, I rejected anything that didn't have natural gas.

That would be a pretty restrictive requirement as there are many communities that do not have natural gas at all.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by gf2020

That would be a pretty restrictive requirement as there are many communities that do not have natural gas at all.

About 50% of homes in MA use natural gas so odds are you can find a house with NG if you look hard enough. Ironically I have natural gas and Fios but no public water or sewer.