Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood in Connecticut Chat http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22397127 en Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:54:41 EDT Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:54:41 EDT Re: Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22403987 anon : Hee, hee... I figured you'd pick up on that little hint (not a dig, BTW) signmeuptoo. Fact is, I'd HATE to move, period. Been in the same house since 1966. I moved my way up the state over the years.. after WWII, settled in Stamford, on Palmer Ave, then moved to Bethel (too industrialized) took a brief stay in Sherman after Bethel's sewer assessment caused my home to go into foreclosure, and finally bought some swamp land in New Milford for $1850 and started building, the old-fashioned way, not with contractors and $$$, but with hard work and funded paycheck to paycheck. As such, the house has a strong emotional value to me--I ruined my health building it, but alas, with taxes rising to levels I could not have imagined in my wildest mental exercises, I may have to leave or face a bitter end if I can't negotiate a tax rate that is compatible with my income level (which has been on the decline since 2003).

I have been all up and down the eastern seaboard in 2005, looking for a new home, but was quite disappointed in all that I've seen out there. Raleigh, NC was one possibility. I even looked at Huntersville, SC, as well as northern FL from Tampa to Inverness.

In 2000, I looked at some land in Baguio, Philippines, the only part of the PI where I found the weather to be tolerable (I'm a cold-weather Nordic/Viking ancestry and despise anything over 70ºF). Was even looking at Lousisiana, until Katrina demonstrated a few things about the area that really turned me away. I spent time in California (and had to be on oxygen much of that time, the air was so bad), mostly Stockton/Lodi/SFO areas. I couldn't get out of there quickly enough. Reno, NV wasn't too bad, at least it was clean and the appearance of low crime was encouraging. But it just didn't feel 'right' to me either. Every time I return to CT, I feel at home, my body behaves much better (I can breath the air without need for an oxygen tank) and I sleep better. Must be something about the earth's magnetic field or some less obvious factor. Just the mountains, trees, fresh air and quiet seem so much more "me" here.

Some of the southern states are notorious for corrupt police, wrong address dynamic entries by local police/DEA, and other nasties. Of course, many communities are full of cookie cutter houses where every street looks the same as the one before it. My friend's son-in-law moved to Miami, FL, where the house number is twenty-three thousand-something and it's miles and miles of the same house, replicated thousands of times on both sides of the street. Ugh!

I'm a little extra worried this time around, because our neighbors pooled $12K and had the road (formerly a rocky, moon-cratered mud-puddled path) and refinished and smoothed into a nice surface. I voted against the plan and noted that the assessor would probably come around this year, as it's the tenth anniversary of the '99 assessment visit, but they went ahead anyway and the road was completed 3 weeks ago. Then my inlaws moved in with us 2 weeks ago, and, having nothing to do, started landscaping our yard by hand. My wife bought a bunch of arborvitae about 6' tall a piece, two at a time (because two was the max payload of a Ford Explorer--the tires were flat with the weight) and I and her father planted them along the edge of the property. So I think we're going to get whacked on taxes and I'm probably going to end up exhanging not very nice words with the assessor again, a mess I went through in 2000 and 2001, relentlessly until they lowered my assessment back down to about where it was, which is still too high, but hey, we live next to a country club and some houses worth over $2M a piece, so the way assessments are calculated, based on average property values, we're getting the short end of the deal by a wide margin.

I recently read a blog at the end of a news article about China overtaking the US, economically.. the fellow was an engineer from the UK, where he'd spent 17 years trying to launch a business, unsuccessfully due to the onerous laws and taxes. He moved to China four years ago, repeated his business efforts and is now living in a large villa, owns a Mercedes and is well-respected and relatively wealthy. That hit a chord with me, too. I and my electronic inventions got no respect in the US. I started selling my broadcast equipment designs in the Philippines toward the end of the last century, seeing that the US had its head of its legal arse. But now it looks like China may be the place to go.

Ultimately, I wish the US would stop being hipocritical and actually BE the free nation that it claims to be. These property taxes are downright enslavement and cause a great deal of anxiety, stress and anger for the less than super-wealthy residents.

basspig dot wordpress dot com]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22403987 Sun, 17 May 2009 22:56:47 EDT Re: Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22401352 pandora : Danbury has low property taxes compared to the rest of the state. Unfortunately our school system is not doing very well.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22401352 Sun, 17 May 2009 09:08:43 EDT Re: Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22401327 P Ness :
said by signmeuptoo See Profile :

Ok, I can take the ribbing!

But you guys ARE invited, I make good pulled pork. I hear Memphis is a happening place, why not move to there? Just remember we have a very high sales tax, which includes food.

»www.tennessee.gov/revenue/tntaxe···duse.htm

Not counting local taxes, we have the highest tax on food of any state I believe.

As I have said, since people's income is pretty low in most of Tennessee, a state income tax won't work well here, so we pay more on good including food. No matter where you live, you're gonna pay one way or another.

I am for a "fair tax" based on commerce, with a card issued to the destitute poor so that they can get a discount on food and other essentials as far as taxes.

I heartily invite you, disconnected, pandora, and P Ness down here. Don't just talk, walk the walk and move here, I want to see how ya like it and if you will miss CT.

Make digs at me all you want, you all are just sore because I spoke something that struck home.
already moved from NY (long island) over 15 years ago and never looked back

reasons i moved are the same as now....

as for TN trust me i have done my research i have even gone as far as look at houses in TN already and sorry but you guys have it a bit better then we have it in CT.

my mothers house is in the middle of no whereville NY so i know the feeling of "nothing"....

the cost of living is much lower down there but you are right the common income average per household is lower.

but when i look at the assessment rates and the cost of the homes, overall taxes it quickly becomes evident that its cheaper to live down there even after a reduction in pay. of course my companies second biggest state of employment is TN and i could move and not suffer a cut in pay :P

nothing like selling my 1400sqft house and getting a 3000 sqft house of the same quality for less money....and yes i have looked at quite a few that meet this criteria.

would i hate it? maybe? is it any better then CT? maybe?

but this was all said about my move from NY to CT...and i lived!!!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22401327 Sun, 17 May 2009 08:56:34 EDT Re: Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22399741 signmeuptoo : Ok, I can take the ribbing!

But you guys ARE invited, I make good pulled pork. I hear Memphis is a happening place, why not move to there? Just remember we have a very high sales tax, which includes food.

»www.tennessee.gov/revenue/tntaxe···duse.htm

Not counting local taxes, we have the highest tax on food of any state I believe.

As I have said, since people's income is pretty low in most of Tennessee, a state income tax won't work well here, so we pay more on good including food. No matter where you live, you're gonna pay one way or another.

I am for a "fair tax" based on commerce, with a card issued to the destitute poor so that they can get a discount on food and other essentials as far as taxes.

I heartily invite you, disconnected, pandora, and P Ness down here. Don't just talk, walk the walk and move here, I want to see how ya like it and if you will miss CT.

Make digs at me all you want, you all are just sore because I spoke something that struck home.
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Join Teams Helix and Discovery. Put that fancy computer to good use helping to find a cure, your mom will love you for it. »Team Helix »Team Discovery]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22399741 Sat, 16 May 2009 19:46:15 EDT Re: Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22399007 P Ness : I saw someone doing something a few weeks ago in cromwell....

if they do it again so soon i am so going to TN

fuck em]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22399007 Sat, 16 May 2009 16:17:16 EDT Re: Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22398584 anon : Philippines is a last-ditch move, in case we can't afford property in any part of America, or if the country goes completely Communist in the next four years. ;-)

The inlaws report that the economy hasn't been in quite as much decline in the PI as it has been here. They are also expressing shock at how expensive it is to live here, and that you need a car to get anywhere.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22398584 Sat, 16 May 2009 14:20:33 EDT Re: Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22398537 pandora : Mark, Tennessee or Arkansas I can see, but the Philippines? Didn't you just have family immigrate from the Philippines to the U.S.? The direction of choice generally is toward the U.S.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22398537 Sat, 16 May 2009 14:03:07 EDT Tax Assessor Seen in the Neighborhood http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22397127 anon : Just an FYI: the tax assessor is roaming around early this decade. Back in '99, he came around in July. This decade, I spotted him in the area today.
The last time he came, my taxes quadrupled and it raised quite a kerfuffle between me and the town. I can only hope that doesn't happen again this year. We may have to move to Tennessee or Arkansas, or the Philippines if it goes any higher than it is now!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22397127 Sat, 16 May 2009 00:57:45 EDT