Questions about Maine (Bangor, Augusta, Rockland: sales, health insurance, homes)

[Dorineonthemove]

Looking for place that would fit for this family. Farmed organically for 13 yrs in St. Lawrence co, NY (2 hrs north Syracuse) and the gray from sept to may was overwhelming,not to say -50 temp and constant 40-70mph winds, SAD syndrome and cost of living for NY. But miss the year round outdoor activities(bike, canoe, hike,x-country ski,fishing) Moved back to south central VA where hunters use dogs while they stand on roads drinking beer waiting for deer(no respect for property). Plus ended up in fanatical bible belt region, have to drive 70 to 90 miles to shop at decent healthfood store(for what we don't raise on our farm and can/freeze). Only phone service is Verizon and they refuse to put in anything decent (phone goes out in rain and dial up is 16 Kbps). Had serious drought 2006-2008 and now since August. My questions are:
1. all your taxes (our vehicles are 1994-2003 plus stock trailer and 12' enclosed trailer), do you have both property and school taxes like we did in NY (only property in VA but tax you to death on personal items for both farm and business) I'm interested in all of Waldo Co. esp Belfast to Rockland (one property in Northport). Also looking at all of Penobscot Co. (one property in Carroll).
2.our income tax would be offset by farm income so don't feel that is much of issue.
3.we homeschool our older teenager (3) so public schools aren't a concern.
4.I'm self-employed so not worried about finding work.
5.How's healthcare system is it expensive to buy (might not be issue with current health reform debate)
6.Are Mainers' knowledgable and savvy about health/wellness/alternative therapies (more effective methods of healthcare than alliopathic route)
7. I've looked at scorecard.com and have located Maine's superfunds, enviromental sources (our county in NY was #5 in nation for all cancers!!)
8. What do utilities run: price/kWh annually(ours varied depending on time of yr), we can only get Verizon phone here(what are your options), our gas just jumped 10/15 was $2.23 and 10/22 now $2.69!!!
9. We camped for 1 week on Loon Lake (near Rockland) and loved Moody's diner but the mosquitos drove us into the tent every night by 8 pm! How bad are black flies in the above inquired areas.
10. We have a lot to offer a community, like to go out to festivals/good restaurants/farmer's markets but like our privacy looking for people that would welcome us to area.
Want this to be last move!!! Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!
If any other areas seem like a better fit than counties mentioned above would take the recommendation too.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by Dorineonthemove

Looking for place that would fit for this family. Farmed organically for 13 yrs in St. Lawrence co, NY (2 hrs north Syracuse) and the gray from sept to may was overwhelming,not to say -50 temp and constant 40-70mph winds, SAD syndrome and cost of living for NY. But miss the year round outdoor activities(bike, canoe, hike,x-country ski,fishing) Moved back to south central VA where hunters use dogs while they stand on roads drinking beer waiting for deer(no respect for property). Plus ended up in fanatical bible belt region, have to drive 70 to 90 miles to shop at decent healthfood store(for what we don't raise on our farm and can/freeze). Only phone service is Verizon and they refuse to put in anything decent (phone goes out in rain and dial up is 16 Kbps). Had serious drought 2006-2008 and now since August. My questions are:
1. all your taxes (our vehicles are 1994-2003 plus stock trailer and 12' enclosed trailer), do you have both property and school taxes like we did in NY (only property in VA but tax you to death on personal items for both farm and business) I'm interested in all of Waldo Co. esp Belfast to Rockland (one property in Northport). Also looking at all of Penobscot Co. (one property in Carroll).
2.our income tax would be offset by farm income so don't feel that is much of issue.
3.we homeschool our older teenager (3) so public schools aren't a concern.
4.I'm self-employed so not worried about finding work.
5.How's healthcare system is it expensive to buy (might not be issue with current health reform debate)
6.Are Mainers' knowledgable and savvy about health/wellness/alternative therapies (more effective methods of healthcare than alliopathic route)
7. I've looked at scorecard.com and have located Maine's superfunds, enviromental sources (our county in NY was #5 in nation for all cancers!!)
8. What do utilities run: price/kWh annually(ours varied depending on time of yr), we can only get Verizon phone here(what are your options), our gas just jumped 10/15 was $2.23 and 10/22 now $2.69!!!
9. We camped for 1 week on Loon Lake (near Rockland) and loved Moody's diner but the mosquitos drove us into the tent every night by 8 pm! How bad are black flies in the above inquired areas.
10. We have a lot to offer a community, like to go out to festivals/good restaurants/farmer's markets but like our privacy looking for people that would welcome us to area.
Want this to be last move!!! Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!
If any other areas seem like a better fit than counties mentioned above would take the recommendation too.

Well, first a little geography lesson. The part of Maine that you mentioned looking at first...Belfast-Northport-Rockland...is almost the same latitude as Messena, New York. So, if dark long winters are an issue, Maine will serve up at least as much as you saw in upstate New York, with the added fillip of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine throwing all sorts of variations at you. Will it be as cold as upstate NY? I dunno...which winter are you referring to, because every winter in Maine is different. Will we have as much snow as upstate NY? I dunno, we might. Then again, we might have a completely open winter, then again, we might not get much snow, but we could get a lot of ice and freezing rain, and gloom and doom. No telling: weather changeability is one of Maine's great products. The further "up" in Maine you go, the further NORTH you get: did you know that most of Maine is further north than Burlington, Vermont?

Taxes? Well, in Maine we have many taxes and some people think they are very high, per capita, and some do not. We have a state sales tax, and an income tax. We also have property taxes on real property that pays for the schools in each town, and that tax rate is supposed to be 100% of the fair market value of each property. We also have an automobile excise tax on vehicles that decreases each year for seven years and then stays the same. That tax remains in the individual towns.

Health care? Oh, you mean HEALTH INSURANCE. Well, Maine is a terrible place to even think about health insurance. There are two options in Maine, one is the state run shambles called Dirigo, which is extremely expensive and the other is Anthem Blue Cross which is extremely expensive. Expect to pay at least $1000 per month for a family of four with a very high deductible...perhaps $2500 or more. This isn't going to change anytime real soon, regardless of what the politicians have to say in Washington.

Electricity is very expensive in Maine. Expect to pay at least 16 cents per kilowatt hour, all taxes included. In the Belfast and Rockland the utility is Central Maine Power, and in Penobscot County, the utility is Bangor Hydro Electric Company. Neither one is user friendly.

Telephone in Maine is an absolute mess waiting to happen. Verizon sold the Maine land lines to a fly-by-night operation called Fair Point Communication. They have NEVER managed to convert the Verizon network to work on their equipment and are now on the verge of bankruptcy. For telephone service you would probably do better to have cable tv service and use a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service, such as Vonage. That way you will have the best of both worlds, with high speed Internet and really good, really cheap telephone service. Chose your property destination carefully: this might be important. Otherwise, I would try to use a cellphone and forget the landline entirely.

Since you have an interest in organic growing look at the MOFGA website...Maine Organic Farmers and Gardiners' Association. They have an annual fair that is absolutely NOT to be missed.

As far as religious fundamentalists are concerned, Maine is a true member of the United States and has its fair share. If you didn't like them in Virginia, you won't like them here. But basically here in Maine, most people of any religious persuasion just leave other people alone. If you have a live and let live attitude, I am sure that no one will work overly hard to convert you to believe in, or practice much of anything otherwise.

Black flies and mosquitos? Well, we have them. They are around, and some people are really bothered by them. They come with the territory, and that's pretty much the way it is. Right on the coast the black flies are often not much of an issue, but I know of places right on the water where the black flies are unbelievably thick for about a month or so each year. Look at it this way: we have black flies and mosquitos in the summer, but we don't have rattlesnakes. (Except for in the statehouse in Augusta, of course. But that's a bit different).

Basically, I think you will find a lot of folks up here that are interested in the same things tha tyou are interested in. You will likely have to travel a bit to find them, or to socialize, but I think you might actually like it here. One caveat: don't expect Maine to be much less expensive to live than upstate New York. You will probably find it much the same.

[Submariner]

Dorineonthemove -

Welcome

... Looking for place that would fit for this family. Farmed organically for 13 yrs in St. Lawrence co, NY (2 hrs north Syracuse)

We got lots of that going on here.

... and the gray from sept to may was overwhelming, not to say -50 temp and constant 40-70mph winds, SAD syndrome and cost of living for NY.

'gray' is that to mean over-cast? or foggy? or cloudy?

Where I grew-up in the Central Valley of California much of the precipitation has a hard time climbing up to the 14,000 feet it takes to get over the Sierra Nevada mountain range, so it stays. October until March it is not un-common to not have any direct sun or sky, just over-cast or fog.

What makes St. Lawrence gray?

Here in the winter, we get a lot of bright clear sunny days where you really need subglasses.

... But miss the year round outdoor activities(bike, canoe, hike, x-country ski, fishing) Moved back to south central VA where hunters use dogs while they stand on roads drinking beer waiting for deer (no respect for property). Plus ended up in fanatical bible belt region,

Va, NC, SC, Ga, is a unique culture.

We have lived there, ...

... have to drive 70 to 90 miles to shop at decent healthfood store(for what we don't raise on our farm and can/freeze). Only phone service is Verizon and they refuse to put in anything decent (phone goes out in rain and dial up is 16 Kbps). Had serious drought 2006-2008 and now since August. My questions are:
1. all your taxes (our vehicles are 1994-2003 plus stock trailer and 12' enclosed trailer), do you have both property and school taxes like we did in NY (only property in VA but tax you to death on personal items for both farm and business) I'm interested in all of Waldo Co. esp Belfast to Rockland (one property in Northport). Also looking at all of Penobscot Co. (one property in Carroll).

We pay a vehicle tax, it is called 'excise tax'.

We pay a property tax on our land, it may have a seperate school tax itemized on the bill. Though mine does not.

We have found, in our experience that taxes are low here.

... 2.our income tax would be offset by farm income so don't feel that is much of issue.
3.we homeschool our older teenager (3) so public schools aren't a concern.

Homeschool is very popular here.

... 6.Are Mainers' knowledgable and savvy about health /wellness /alternative therapies (more effective methods of healthcare than alliopathic route)

Some are, ...

Others are not.

[medievalbooks]

Thanks Acadlion for your detailed answers.

They answered a few of mine as well ))