Observations from a Mid-Coast Trip (Rockland, Camden: how much, buy, upkeep)

[maureenb]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

One thing you should be careful about. Traffic. I'm not in Maine but visit frequently. I spent most of August 2009 there exploring the coast. I love some of the towns you mentioned. You might want to see these coastal towns in the summer during peak season. I couldn't believe the non stop traffic back up in Camden when I was there. It only has one main road running thru it so it couldn't be avoided. Other than that I love the state of Maine.

Route 1 through Camden is a slow go in the summer; but in its defense, I wanted to mention that there are back road alternatives. I guess that knowledge of the back routes comes from living here. And these aren't hardship routes; they're nice roads and not altogether out of the way. I'd share these directions, but they would be as Mike Mc said in another Maine thread,"...by referencing landmarks that no longer exist and people that are long since departed...."

The Route 1 corridor that runs through Rockland is guilty of impressive traffic snarls, even this time of year. The section between the stop light at McDonald's and the light up by Wal-Mart & Home Despot is a problem. But again, there is an alternative route. With onboard nav finders, I suppose someone travelling through could decide to avoid these problem areas of Route 1.

Local knowledge driving perhaps comes having established relationships with those that live & drive there & having non-humorous conversations about "getting there from here"). Then you can know the true meaning of the saying, "I know my way around."

I'm on the eve of a 17 year anniversary. I arrived (and stayed) in Maine in a snowstorm on April 1st, 1993. I'm here to say that a traffic jam back then was being one of one or two cars stuck behind a schoolbus for a mile or so before the kindly driver pulled over to let us pass. I've made a couple of cross country drives recently. I breathe an audible sigh of relief when the Piscataqua Bridge looms into sight. Driving around here is still awesome.

[coastal_photographer]

Originally Posted by 221B

and the automobile excise tax (what's up with that!).

Yes, can someone explain what that's about? I'd understand if it was based on the value of your car NOW, but it seems ridiculous to be paying taxes on a $20,000 car that was purchased 8 years ago. Shouldn't they be factoring on mileage or something into that instead of charging the same amount every year over the life of your car?

[221B]

Originally Posted by coastal_photographer

Yes, can someone explain what that's about? I'd understand if it was based on the value of your car NOW, but it seems ridiculous to be paying taxes on a $20,000 car that was purchased 8 years ago. Shouldn't they be factoring on mileage or something into that instead of charging the same amount every year over the life of your car?

I'd also like to know what the deal is with this tax. What services is it supposed to pay for? Maybe road repair, etc.?
Also, as Coastal Photographer mentioned, is there some concrete way to find out exactly how this tax is figured; as in a specific percentage on the "value" of an automobile.

[corgis]

What they call excise tax in Maine, we call Personal Property Tax here in WV. You pay taxes on your vehicle each and every year you own it. The tax goes down with the age of the vehicle, but it never goes away, it just drops to a set amount. We're so used to paying both Property Tax and Personal Property Tax that I'm thinking it'll be hard to call Personal Property Tax Excise Tax when we get moved up there.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by maureenb

Local knowledge driving perhaps comes having established relationships with those that live & drive there & having non-humorous conversations about "getting there from here"). Then you can know the true meaning of the saying, "I know my way around."

Or, like we do... EXPLORE! Taking the camera is a good excuse, but often times I don't need it. If I'm headed from here to there and not in a hurry -- or coming back home -- quite often I'll pick a road I have not yet been down and see where it goes. Sometimes I just wander, but if I have a destination, I choose turns based on the general direction I am headed.

Of course, the older I get and the more I explore, I often find myself in the "gee, I've been here before" place, but unsure of when, or what I was doing, which may make it hard to remember where "it" goes. LOL

It helps to have limits to the area -- such as water -- to help give references and such. When I first moved to the down east area of NC, I worked on a project, indexing all of the many small and home-based businesses in the little towns there. Doing this meant that I literally drove down EVERY road on the down east peninsula between their North River bridge and the literal end of the road (at the ferry to the Outer Banks.)

But, boy, did I know my ways "around"!

[lovemaine]

Originally Posted by maureenb

Route 1 through Camden is a slow go in the summer; but in its defense, I wanted to mention that there are back road alternatives. I guess that knowledge of the back routes comes from living here. And these aren't hardship routes; they're nice roads and not altogether out of the way. I'd share these directions, but they would be as Mike Mc said in another Maine thread,"...by referencing landmarks that no longer exist and people that are long since departed...."

The Route 1 corridor that runs through Rockland is guilty of impressive traffic snarls, even this time of year. The section between the stop light at McDonald's and the light up by Wal-Mart & Home Despot is a problem. But again, there is an alternative route. With onboard nav finders, I suppose someone travelling through could decide to avoid these problem areas of Route 1.

Local knowledge driving perhaps comes having established relationships with those that live & drive there & having non-humorous conversations about "getting there from here"). Then you can know the true meaning of the saying, "I know my way around."

I'm on the eve of a 17 year anniversary. I arrived (and stayed) in Maine in a snowstorm on April 1st, 1993. I'm here to say that a traffic jam back then was being one of one or two cars stuck behind a schoolbus for a mile or so before the kindly driver pulled over to let us pass. I've made a couple of cross country drives recently. I breathe an audible sigh of relief when the Piscataqua Bridge looms into sight. Driving around here is still awesome.

Well put, Maureen! It didn't take me long to figure out the back roads once we moved to Camden. Downtown Camden can be completely avoided by sticking to side streets. Personally, even summer traffic here is no big deal to me. We had to deal with traffic every day in NC, so to have somewhat heavy traffic a few months out of the year doesn't bother us. Plus it's fun to see all the different out-of-state license plates!

[221B]

Originally Posted by lovemaine

Well put, Maureen! It didn't take me long to figure out the back roads once we moved to Camden. Downtown Camden can be completely avoided by sticking to side streets. Personally, even summer traffic here is no big deal to me. We had to deal with traffic every day in NC, so to have somewhat heavy traffic a few months out of the year doesn't bother us. Plus it's fun to see all the different out-of-state license plates!

Thanks you guys for the side-street tips. Where we currently live (between the intersection of two freeways), our city's main road is frequently used as an "alternate" route whenever the freeways are clogged, which is every single day between 6:30am ~ 9:00am and 2:30pm ~ 7:00pm! The traffic running through our town can be horrendous, and I mean terrible. So, we're guessing that the summer traffic running through Rockland, Camden, etc. is going to be no big deal.

[CalieCat]

Originally Posted by corgis

What they call excise tax in Maine, we call Personal Property Tax here in WV. You pay taxes on your vehicle each and every year you own it. The tax goes down with the age of the vehicle, but it never goes away, it just drops to a set amount. We're so used to paying both Property Tax and Personal Property Tax that I'm thinking it'll be hard to call Personal Property Tax Excise Tax when we get moved up there.

Here in Georgia we call it Ad Valorem and pay it every year when we renew our tags, to be honest I don't know if there's a cap or a minimum.

[coastal_photographer]

Originally Posted by corgis

What they call excise tax in Maine, we call Personal Property Tax here in WV. You pay taxes on your vehicle each and every year you own it. The tax goes down with the age of the vehicle, but it never goes away, it just drops to a set amount. We're so used to paying both Property Tax and Personal Property Tax that I'm thinking it'll be hard to call Personal Property Tax Excise Tax when we get moved up there.

See that I understand. But the Town Office told me that the amount I pay now will be the same as long as I own my car. As in, it won't go down with age/mileage. That baffles me that in 10 years, if I still have my car, I'm going to be spending the same amount as if I just purchased it.

[deerislesmile]

The rate goes down every year... Here is the explanation of the Vehicle Excise Tax:

http://www.maine.gov/REVENUE/propert...axbrochure.pdf