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I was wondering, with high housing costs and taxes and whatnot is there anyone here who's left or considering it? And if so, where would you go or where have you gone? I remember a while ago I was complaining about how expensive it is living in Connecticut and a friend told me that Jersey has the most expensive property taxes, and I thought "oh, BS. There's no way" only come to find out, that's true. A family member of mine lives in Cranford and when she told me what she and her husband pay for property taxes I was stunned. Which leads me to my next question: How exactly did the property tax rate for you folks get so high? Because it wasn't always like this.
I was wondering, with high housing costs and taxes and whatnot is there anyone here who's left or considering it? And if so, where would you go or where have you gone? I remember a while ago I was complaining about how expensive it is living in Connecticut and a friend told me that Jersey has the most expensive property taxes, and I thought "oh, BS. There's no way" only come to find out, that's true. A family member of mine lives in Cranford and when she told me what she and her husband pay for property taxes I was stunned. Which leads me to my next question: How exactly did the property tax rate for you folks get so high? Because it wasn't always like this.
Housing costs (both prices and the tax bills) were a major factor in my decision to leave. With prices and taxes where they are now, you really want a household income of around 150 or so (excluding bonuses) to join the middle class. The only way I know of to pull that off is rob banks or have a dual income household. I'm heading to PA, like many others who leave. I don't know taxes got so high, they have been very high for quite a while.
I was wondering, with high housing costs and taxes and whatnot is there anyone here who's left or considering it? And if so, where would you go or where have you gone? I remember a while ago I was complaining about how expensive it is living in Connecticut and a friend told me that Jersey has the most expensive property taxes, and I thought "oh, BS. There's no way" only come to find out, that's true. A family member of mine lives in Cranford and when she told me what she and her husband pay for property taxes I was stunned. Which leads me to my next question: How exactly did the property tax rate for you folks get so high? Because it wasn't always like this.
Taxes got so high because politicians laugh behind closed doors at how dumb NJ residents are and how much they are willing to "take".....especially those who post on here that they feel "taxes aren't so bad" here as they feel being able to live in New Jersey is worth being taken advantage of tax wise. As long as you have that type of mentality politicians will just keep heaping more and more taxes on. When you have the highest property taxes of all 50 states I'm not sure how bad taxes have to be in their opinion to actually be considered "bad" but apparently the worst in the nation isn't quite bad enough yet.
New Jersey is not a financially friendly state to the young starting out, seniors who would like to retire here but can't and of course businesses so in the near future when I complete selling my business I will be off to Florida where I can do some outdoor activity 52 weekends a year instead of shoveling my driveway clear of snow every winter weekend or paying to sit on a public beach in the summer that my taxes already go to maintain/replace everytime a Northeaster washes them out to sea and the sand needs replaced.
"New Jersey is not a financially friendly state to the young starting out, seniors who would like to retire here but can't and of course businesses so in the near future when I complete selling my business I will be off to Florida where I can do some outdoor activity 52 weekends a year instead of shoveling my driveway clear of snow every winter weekend or paying to sit on a public beach in the summer that my taxes already go to maintain/replace everytime a Northeaster washes them out to sea and the sand needs replaced."
FlyersFan,
I agree with your post but I'd rethink the part of moving to Florida. I thought exactly the same as you however, I wasn't able to do any outdoor activity after 10:00 AM in the summer because of the heat and humidity. I didn't find it retiree-friendly either. The high fees on almost everything make up for the lack of a state income tax. Although property taxes are lower, Homeowners Insurance could knock your socks off even if you're lucky enough to find a solid insurance company. If I had to do it over again, I'd look at North Carolina or Virginia. Northeners who move to those states are referred to as "half-backs," because they made it half way back up North...:-)
I would never consider leaving New Jersey for one of those "so-called" cheaper states. Many of those states have much more negatives than anything in New Jersey. Plus the wages and job opportunities are superior in the New Jersey area. Im here to stay!
I would never consider leaving New Jersey for one of those "so-called" cheaper states. Many of those states have much more negatives than anything in New Jersey. Plus the wages and job opportunities are superior in the New Jersey area. Im here to stay!
The job offer I had in PA came with a solid bump in compensation (15% increase in base salary, and a stronger benefits package).
It's true that if you're in a job that is primarily a part of the local economy -- for example, local or state government, retail business, etc, then your compensation will be tied to the cost of living. But the same isn't necessarily true for other jobs.
I would never consider leaving New Jersey for one of those "so-called" cheaper states. Many of those states have much more negatives than anything in New Jersey. Plus the wages and job opportunities are superior in the New Jersey area. Im here to stay!
I'm sure the politicians will be happy to have you stay.
"New Jersey is not a financially friendly state to the young starting out, seniors who would like to retire here but can't and of course businesses so in the near future when I complete selling my business I will be off to Florida where I can do some outdoor activity 52 weekends a year instead of shoveling my driveway clear of snow every winter weekend or paying to sit on a public beach in the summer that my taxes already go to maintain/replace everytime a Northeaster washes them out to sea and the sand needs replaced."
FlyersFan,
I agree with your post but I'd rethink the part of moving to Florida. I thought exactly the same as you however, I wasn't able to do any outdoor activity after 10:00 AM in the summer because of the heat and humidity. I didn't find it retiree-friendly either. The high fees on almost everything make up for the lack of a state income tax. Although property taxes are lower, Homeowners Insurance could knock your socks off even if you're lucky enough to find a solid insurance company. If I had to do it over again, I'd look at North Carolina or Virginia. Northeners who move to those states are referred to as "half-backs," because they made it half way back up North...:-)
I am well aware of financial conditions in Florida and the weather......I'm 63 and will be "semi-retired"....heat doesn't bother you when your in a boat fishing in the Gulf or Crystal River so thats not a factor for me plus my youngest daughter lives in Ocala which is toward the norther part of the state where it can drops into the 20s at night in December. No matter how "retiree unfriendly" you may consider it down there it doesn't come close to the financial rape that occurs to New Jersey residents by Trenton. New Jersey offers NOTHING that can't be found in more abundance and cheaper in other states except lack of hope that the tax situation here will ever change.
The job offer I had in PA came with a solid bump in compensation (15% increase in base salary, and a stronger benefits package).
It's true that if you're in a job that is primarily a part of the local economy -- for example, local or state government, retail business, etc, then your compensation will be tied to the cost of living. But the same isn't necessarily true for other jobs.
I wasnt refering to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a great state with low unemployment and great quality of life similar to NJ. I was refering to some of these "so-called" cheaper southern states with astronomically high unemployment and ultra low wages.
I was wondering, with high housing costs and taxes and whatnot is there anyone here who's left or considering it? And if so, where would you go or where have you gone? I remember a while ago I was complaining about how expensive it is living in Connecticut and a friend told me that Jersey has the most expensive property taxes, and I thought "oh, BS. There's no way" only come to find out, that's true. A family member of mine lives in Cranford and when she told me what she and her husband pay for property taxes I was stunned. Which leads me to my next question: How exactly did the property tax rate for you folks get so high? Because it wasn't always like this.
Taxes are too high because of home rule, 566 school districts. But nobody or very few want to change that. Why would a school district that is rated the top in NJ want to be combined with some lesser district with OMG "people on Welfare" how's that gonna look on test scores or worse yet how are you gonna explain to friends that there are poor kids in our schools? Everybody wants to live where the best schools are but they also complain about the high taxes.
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