Real estate tax shock?????????????????

Not so bad up here, $600 for this year. I've got 3 acres and 1000 sq. feet, no water, sewer, gas, trash, neighbors etc.
And I have to drive 15 minutes minimum to get to a gas station, but really to go the direction that makes more sense it's 25 minutes.

 

yeah Vermont property tax laws deductions and acts 68 etc are more complex then I can explain.. Vermont has some good ideas but haven't really figured out how to pay for them. Because we like our farm land there is current use. which means they value the land based on use. Results in NE kingdom large Woodlots and farms are taxed lower. but somebody got to make up difference read property owners that are not primary.

 

As an observer only I would say property taxes are way too high in most areas. Like I mentioned earlier we have a nice place with 150 feet of lake front and pay $600 per year. Part of this is because we live in an unorganized area without local government. We're 45 minutes from the city and the Michigan border. Other taxes on things like gasoline, beer, booze are pretty high. People out here have at least one little fuel mizer car to buzz around in. Coffee works for us. If I had one word of advice from experience it would be to use some sort of forced savings at source to accumulate some blue chip stocks that pay good dividends, have the dividends re-invested and forget about them. In old age the income will come in handy. I just give thanks every day and live it best I can! Happy New Year - ya'll. Eh!

 

We did that private road thing at our first home for 16 years. 1/2 mile. We got the fun job of collecting the $200 per year fee from the 7 homes along it and then paying the guy who plowed it (full size dumptruck w/plow & wing) for only $50 per storm. He plowed for the town too and pulled up our road on the way by. He was a very religious guy and felt it was his duty to help. We were very lucky to have him. Especially when more than a few folks didn't pay their snow plowing fees year after year... 3-4 of us paid 100% of it. That "optional" thing is fun huh, MM...

 

Red states have lower taxes. I live in Illinois.... IL, NY, MA, CA, NJ, etc. will always have high taxes. Big gov't = big taxes. IN, where I own a business is in good financial shape as a whole ignoring Gary and a few urban exceptions. Think taxes are high now...wait till the blue states start defaulting on pension obligations, etc.

 

Amen x10 to all that! I serve on the local roads board here. We get 2 for 1 Provincial Gov subsidy and have about 12 miles to care for year round including brushing, ditching and culverts, grading and plowing. We mange quite well but some people just complain and moan about everything. Seems like the newer generations have a sense of entitlement that is over the top selfish. But God sends His own of all types, sizes, shapes and persuasions, like your guy, and many are blessed as a result. Have a great 2016 everyone!

 

Same with us... the first 2-3 on the road? Why bother... right... ?

 

That's more like it. We could live with that.

 

I'm private drive as well but don't have to worry about snow removal
I did drop a chunk of change on some asphalt a few years back and neighbor #1 that uses this side of the horseshoe drive chipped in a grand.

This past winter neighbor #2 up the top of the drive wanted to do some gravel & dozer work on his side and came to me with his hand out, I kicked in some money partly because the road is on my property and some grading on upper part would keep some gravel from washing down on the asphalt every turd floater rain we get.

 

Keep in mind small house surrounded by tamarack swamp. A lot of the suckers around here who own lake front aren't so lucky. I know one guy who owns 80 acres and built a really nice house over about a decade all with his own labor. County came in to reassess and determined they need to resurvey. Mysteriously, the NE property corner now touches a pot hole lake. Boom, taxes tripled to $12k. He might ended up losinh it all because he can't afford it now.

 

We just got our county taxes, $2300 and our school taxes are also around $2300. Our house is 1500 sq foot on 22 acres.

 

Sarah please come back

 

Naw
We don't like quitters .

 

Explain Wisconsin, and Maine then. Both blue states and high taxes.

It's not a blue vs red state thing.