[Boston_Burbs]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

$2300 is a lot of money to my neighbors. The break only happens on the education portion, and only on the homesite not on the rest of any land attached to it. Larger lots (often 10 acres+) are the norm around me for various reasons. But you need 25 acres to put land into current use for forestry. You're paying full tax on most of the lot. In my experience towns abating taxes routinely does not happen. I've only seen my town do that when a place burned.

Yea but across the river the mill rate for Colebrook, NH is $29/k so you need a pretty modest property to come in lower than VT.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

Yea but across the river the mill rate for Colebrook, NH is $29/k so you need a pretty modest property to come in lower than VT.

I don't know, Dixville was only 25 cents. NH has a wide variance in tax rates. Some of the more backwoods locations are quite cheap. 2022 rates but I don't think this year is too much higher: https://www.revenue.nh.gov/mun-prop/...-tax-rates.pdf

VT's statewide property tax basically made it so everyone in VT has high taxes.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by RobinWoods

Well, I would be coming in as a worker I'm in my early 40s, so long way to go before retirement. I work at a major auto parts chain store, and there are open positions in VT. Pay would go up from what I make now I'm sure because of the higher living costs, but I wouldn't be anywhere near the comfortable 140k mark mentioned earlier lol. It would probably be sub-100k still. Waiting on W2's to see what I made down here this year, but it's probably around 50k if I had to guess (maybe a little more, I have a secondary seasonal job I do sometimes that pays well also). Which is still low end even in the south, we eat well and rent a decent house, but there's no savings (other than 401k), I drive 20+ year old vehicles, etc.

Oddly enough, income tax calculators actually say I'd keep slightly more of my paycheck in VT than here. But I'm assuming that's because if you are buying a house/land your property taxes are taking that extra lol.

I'm not averse to a change of job when moving either, though. And I don't mind manual labor, and as mentioned before I don't mind outdoors (although it's been a while since I had to work outdoors in real winter weather). I have mechanical experience, farm experience, retail and wholesale experience and management experience. So I could switch it up for the right opportunity.

A worker-good news!
Since you’re auto savvy, note that the vehicle registration cost is reasonable in VT.
I was surprised to learn from my daughter that auto insurance is not required in New Hampshire next door.
Nevertheless she decided to establish residence and register her car in VT. So, car insurance must not be bad either.

[MrDee12345]

Originally Posted by Riley.

Vermont always rates as one of the highest tax burdens. And no, I don't believe we have better services overall than anywhere else.

There's been a noticeable difference, for me, in medical care delivery in my neck of the woods. Short staffed, longer waits for appointments (when I make an appointment), but that's happening everywhere else in the country, too. I was in the waiting room for an hour for a doctor's appointment last week. That was a first for me, in 20 yrs. Usually I am in and out in less than an hour.

I'm wondering if others have had the same experience as you. Are services in VT worse like Riley says? If that's the case, then why not move to NH, where your taxes are mostly cheaper and you get few services. Or you could go to Mass with slightly lower taxes and generally good services.

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by MrDee12345

I'm wondering if others have had the same experience as you. Are services in VT worse like Riley says? If that's the case, then why not move to NH, where your taxes are mostly cheaper and you get few services. Or you could go to Mass with slightly lower taxes and generally good services.

Let me clarify. Services are not worse ....it's the wait times that have increased, for everything.
When I injured my shoulder, I couldn't get an appointment at Ortho for 2 months....tried another facility and they were 3 months out. I would have gone to urgent care but I'd been living with the 'injury' for over a month so I didn't consider it urgent at that point.
I've been going to the same doctor for 20 yrs as well as the same medical center. Haven't had any issues. Went to UVM for cancer treatment. all went well there.

I think NH property taxes are cheaper if you live in unincorporated areas. Some places have a 'view tax,' or so I've heard. And I think NH has fewer services the further north you go (my impression).

[arctichomesteader]

I'm paying VT's high taxes and getting no real "services" anyways. The town doesn't plow or otherwise maintain my road (private road off a class 4 road), and the roads in town they're supposed to, they aren't doing much on anyways. The schools are lousy, if I had a kid they would not go there. I have to bring my trash to the transfer station myself. Even if I were in the village, the village water system frequently fails to meet standards. I have to go to NH for doctor visits. There are none on the VT side close enough.

VT's statewide property taxes gave everyone high taxes. It did not give everyone equal access to anything.

[MrDee12345]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

I'm paying VT's high taxes and getting no real "services" anyways. The town doesn't plow or otherwise maintain my road (private road off a class 4 road), and the roads in town they're supposed to, they aren't doing much on anyways. The schools are lousy, if I had a kid they would not go there. I have to bring my trash to the transfer station myself. Even if I were in the village, the village water system frequently fails to meet standards. I have to go to NH for doctor visits. There are none on the VT side close enough.

VT's statewide property taxes gave everyone high taxes. It did not give everyone equal access to anything.

I'm guessing you live near the NH border. Are you in a very rural area?

Would it be the same in the Burlington area?

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

I'm paying VT's high taxes and getting no real "services" anyways. The town doesn't plow or otherwise maintain my road (private road off a class 4 road), and the roads in town they're supposed to, they aren't doing much on anyways. The schools are lousy, if I had a kid they would not go there. I have to bring my trash to the transfer station myself. Even if I were in the village, the village water system frequently fails to meet standards. I have to go to NH for doctor visits. There are none on the VT side close enough.

VT's statewide property taxes gave everyone high taxes. It did not give everyone equal access to anything.

We've evolved since we arrived. The town now plows my road - was a Class 4, now Class 3. The select board really works hard to keep expenses down.
We used to take our trash to the town garage but my husband always did that, wrangling bags of trash in the back of his car, then putting up with the trash police questioning everything he brought there! I finally decided to relieve him of that responsibility and pay $49/month for (2) trash pickups. Once every other week. I think this is really expensive, but for us, this one is worth not having to hassle with the other way.

We have a deep well, so water is not a problem.

We are close to St Albans, a little further to B'ton for services, but we are rural too on a small but fairly well travelled road.

Don't get me started on the schools. I volunteered for a committee that made recommendations to the school board about what the local small elementary school 'needs.' When I did my first tour (because I don't have kids and am the non-parent on the committee) there was one 'trailer' classroom for the pre-schooler that shocked me. It was gross, loaded with trash and my thought was I would never ever let a child of mine go there. There's a real dug in attitude about keeping everything 'local' (as if education is actually a 'local' issue here.....the teachers' union and the state run this dumpster fire, but people don't want to admit it). But this town is jumping on the bond measure band wagon like the neighboring town that voted in a $36 MILLION dollar measure to upgrade their school.

Our recommendations for improvements will not nearly be as much, but we have other factors that will affect school budgets. ACT 127 for instance (DEI updated 'weighing' of students), increased tuition for the kids we send to that neighboring town, and an education task force that is trying to come to grips with a situation of their own making with regard to infrastructure funding. It doesn't bode well. I think the school needs a total upgrade but I would NOT vote in favor of a bond measure at this point. The funding task force reports mentions consolidation and regionalization of the education 'system.' I can hear the screaming already.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by MrDee12345

I'm guessing you live near the NH border. Are you in a very rural area?

Would it be the same in the Burlington area?

Yes, close to NH and very rural.

Burlington has a whole different set of issues, namely crime, drugs, lack of police response to crime, homeless encampments, etc.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

It's below zero often enough in Essex County you don't want a heat pump. The electric grid in VT is not in good shape….My house is off grid…

I would want one, and so do a lot of people in equally cold Maine. (See below)

A weak grid is problematic in many ways, for sure.
For an off grid home, heat pump doesn’t seem feasible.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ital-of-the-us