Any people Move or Retire to Maine Instead of NH because of NH Property Taxes (Auburn: real estate, houses)

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by bangorme

Well, I think Maine exempted the first $6,000 until this year, when it goes up to $10,000. So yes, if you have a pension under that amount, then Maine might be OK. Why that exemption was raised is because retired people (that pay taxes) are leaving Maine in droves.

We have been here for 7 years. My pension is above both of those numbers you quote.

Thank you for bringing up the 'exemption' I had totally forgotten about it.




So even higher pensions will now be tax-free in Maine

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by bangorme

That's funny. The highest property taxes I've EVER paid were in Caribou. See, let's say you live in a $150,000 home and it is in the top 10% in the town, you will bear a large portion of the towns assessment that has very little to tax of value. Now, if you own a $150,000 house in Cape Elizabeth, you'll be on the bottom (in a town with a large residential tax base) and pay very little.

Each town has it's own mil-rate.

The last time I went over and had a conversation with the town clerk in the town West of us, their mil-rate was at exactly double my town's mil-rate. The town to our South was at triple our mil-rate.

Where one town may charge you $200, another town may charge you $400, and another town may charge you $600. All for the exact same assessment.

That is all determined by a town's mil-rate.

Mil-rates are driven by the town budget, which is driven by Services. The more Services a town provides, then the higher it's budget will need to be. Likewise towns that offer fewer services, will have a smaller budget and lower mil-rate.

It is funny in a way.



Consider Bangor for example. According to: The official website for the City of Bangor, Maine

The city of Bangor 2012 mill rate is 19.2%
Their 2013 mill rate will be 19.65%

I live in the same county as Bangor. My mill rate is 0.887%

According to: Maine Revenue Services: Property Tax -

Can you see the difference?

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by bangorme

Well, here's one I found in about 15 seconds: Time to nix pension income tax, LePage says | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME

But really, it's just common sense. Why would the Governor (a fiscal conservative) be trying to exempt pension income from income taxation if it wasn't to keep these people here paying other taxes? Yes, we've got tons of old people here, but too many of them are takers, not givers (Obama supporter types), and the older they are, the more expensive they are.

Good reading material, thank you.

I was not aware of LePage's move in this regard.


I have a Federal pension. Wherever I go I bring money from outside of the state into the region. I am not an Obama supporter. In the circle of people I hang with very few are his supporters.

[bangorme]

Originally Posted by Submariner

Each town has it's own mil-rate.

The last time I went over and had a conversation with the town clerk in the town West of us, their mil-rate was at exactly double my town's mil-rate. The town to our South was at triple our mil-rate.

Where one town may charge you $200, another town may charge you $400, and another town may charge you $600. All for the exact same assessment.

That is all determined by a town's mil-rate.

Mil-rates are driven by the town budget, which is driven by Services. The more Services a town provides, then the higher it's budget will need to be. Likewise towns that offer fewer services, will have a smaller budget and lower mil-rate.

It is funny in a way.



Consider Bangor for example. According to: The official website for the City of Bangor, Maine

The city of Bangor 2012 mill rate is 19.2%
Their 2013 mill rate will be 19.65%

I live in the same county as Bangor. My mill rate is 0.887%

According to: Maine Revenue Services: Property Tax -

Can you see the difference?

The mil-rates are set (simplified) by Tax base/Budget. So, even with a low budget, if you have a low tax base, your mil-rate will be high.

[3DogNight]

The short answer is yes, funny you should ask this because I just told my mom this morning that ME is my new focus, NH is out of the running. NH is a wealthy, shopoholic bugger's paradise - I am neither.

I have no children and the property taxes are absurd for someone without kids in the system. It's absurd for people with kids in the system but they seem to be ok with it so who am I to judge.

I don't shop enough to make it worth my while for the no sales tax thing. My sil has pointed out that she saves thouuuuusands in sales taxes...well that's because you have an ipod for each hand, a laptop for each foot, a different colored coat for each day of the week, 2 luxury vehicles and multiply that times 2 children. This is a person that throws cash in junk drawers. Nuff said.

So as I toured a house in Auburn, NH that had no functional facilities (bathrooms, heating systems, etc) in foreclosure this past September and saw the taxes were still $4500 because the assessment, done only recently, still had the house at the last purchase price in the 300's but now selling for low 100k...I realized that the air must be too thin there. What happens when that house is brought bad to code for heaven's sake?? And I've seen too many shacks that sold high in the good times but have been inaccurately assessed as far as I'm concerned...I don't think last house is an anomaly.

We are not retired. We will be working...so Maine it is.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by Submariner

Consider Bangor for example. According to: The official website for the City of Bangor, Maine

The city of Bangor 2012 mill rate is 19.2%
Their 2013 mill rate will be 19.65%

I live in the same county as Bangor. My mill rate is 0.887%

According to: Maine Revenue Services: Property Tax -

Can you see the difference?

Just to avoid scaring people, Submariner, we should perhaps note that the mil rate you quote is not "19.2%," IOW almost a fifth of the assessed value, but actually 1.92 percent. Misplaced a decimal point there. :-)

[slyfox2]

LePage(thank god his name is not LeBook) will not be able to exempt pensions until he can find a source to replace the $80,000,000 lost by doing so. But I would appreciate if he were to simply drop the tax on pensions from its 6% TO MAYBE 3%.

BTW, I VOTED FOR OBAMA but only because the GOP candidate and his running mate are so out of touch with what it is like to live in a world where you make under $250,000 a year(Angus King, btw, brings in about $600k entirely from his investment portfolio). If the GOP had fielded some kind of moderate who doesn't say no to everything, and lambast the working guy, or pensioner, I would have voted for him/her easily.

Of course with a Democratic STATE House and Senate, maybe the reduction in pension taxes might even be possible. Democrats do stuff like that and then afterwards try to figure out how they can pay for it. A bit bass-ackwards of course.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Coaster

Just to avoid scaring people, Submariner, we should perhaps note that the mil rate you quote is not "19.2%," IOW almost a fifth of the assessed value, but actually 1.92 percent. Misplaced a decimal point there. :-)

Oops, my apology. I did a cut-paste and goofed when placing the '%'

Thank you for catching that

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by bangorme

The mil-rates are set (simplified) by Tax base/Budget. So, even with a low budget, if you have a low tax base, your mil-rate will be high.

If your community demands higher level of free services; then you will pay higher taxes.

Just like in this past election. Mainers demanded higher taxes. Four bonds were on the ballot; each bond requires taxes to be raised to pay the bond plus it's interest payments. How many of the bonds did the voters pass?

More 'free' services, requires a higher budget. A higher budget requires higher tax revenue.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

"We are not retired. We will be working...so Maine it is."

Welcome to Maine 3dognight.