Conference misery::feline_v1

    Donna,
    
    I have lived in Massachusetts all my life and except for the long
    winter months really enjoy it here.  The seasons are a nice change
    (right now I am dying for autumn, since this heat is getting a little
    bothersome!)  The taxes here are a pain; we're thinking of moving
    to NH (hardly no taxes and houses are quite a bit cheaper).  I lived
    in an apartment only a few different times and didn't cats during
    those times, so I don't really know what that situation is.  I
    currently own a condo, so its no problem for me.
    
    If you'd like any other info, please let me know.  Good luck with
    your pondering!
    
    Erin

    I have lived in NH all my life and enjoy the change of the seasons
    very much.  The taxes are low and if you buy your own condo, you
    can surely have pets.  Although, many apartments and rented condos,
    do not allow any pets at all!
    
    Come to our beautiful state of New Hampshire!
    Good luck!!
    

    
    
    	Well, the weather is the same in both states but New Hampshire
    	is a better location.  If you live in southern NH you are near
    	the mountains for skiing or whatever.  MA doesn't have mountains,
    	just a couple of mini-ski hills ;-)...
    
    	And you are within an hour of Boston if you live near the mass
    	border.
    
    	When you are ready to come out, put a note in this file and
    	maybe some of us will be able to come up with a place for
    	you to live.  Who knows, maybe I'll need a new roommate
    	by then.....  just kidding 5 cats in a small condo would
    	be WAY to many.
    
    	Oh, Mass taxes are 5% and if you live in NH, work in MA, like
    	me, you still pay the taxes.  I'm looking for a job in NH
    	to get away from the taxes.
    
    	Karen

    
    You mean all this fuss about Mass. taxes and they are only 5%???!!!
    I don't think any of you better come to California ... boy would
    that be a rude awakening!  8^)

    The thing that scares me most about moving out there is being close
    to you fellow feliners who always write about those kitties needing
    homes.  It's much easier to say 'no' 3000 miles away.  Let me tell
    you all now .... 2 terrorists are enough!!!!!!!!!! 8^0
    
    
    Donna
    
        

    Mass sales tax is 5%. Mass income tax is on a sliding scale and
    is very high!
    

    Mass. does *too* have mountains -- what d'you think the Berkshires are?
    Alright, they're not exactly the White Mountains.... :-)

    I lived in Mass. most of my life; moved to Nashua, NH last fall.
    Eastern Mass (Boston metropolitan area) is getting quite congested.
    So is southern NH (in the Nashua area), for that matter.  Western
    Mass is less so, and is quite a nice area, though I don't know what
    facilities DEC has out there (I think there's an office or something
    in Springfield, and the SDC is in Westminster, which isn't *quite*
    Western Mass).

    We moved to Nashua to be closer to work (my S.O. and I both work at
    Spit Brook) and to find a place we could afford.  Though housing prices
    are getting higher and higher in this area! 

    Things I like about living in NH:  No state income tax.  No sales tax.
    24-hour supermarkets are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week (in
    Mass. they can only be open for a certain number of hours on Sunday).
    Convenience to ski areas (although the best ones are still 2-3 hours'
    drive away).  Boston is still a reasonable drive (about an hour to
    downtown).

    For more info on both NH and Mass, you could check out the New
    Hampshire conference and the Massachusetts conference at:

			UCOUNT::NEW_HAMPSHIRE
			UCOUNT::MASSACHUSETTS

							-- Nina

    As I paid it, sales is 6% (as I recall), and income is 5%, with only
    FICA up to $2000, and unreimbursed business expenses exemptable.
     
    One interesting point: if you live NH and work MA, you can prorata
    eliminate income taxex for workdays you are not in MA (seminars
    in NH, for example).
    
    Gary

    RE .5

>    Mass sales tax is 5%. Mass income tax is on a sliding scale and
>    is very high!

    Uh uh.  Mass income tax is also 5%.  Unless it's changed in the past
    9 months (and I haven't heard anything; I still read the Boston Globe
    even though I'm now a NH resident).
						-- Nina

    Geez, other replies keep slipping in before mine!

    NOW HEAR THIS:  Massachusetts INCOME TAX is FIVE PERCENT.
		    Massachusetts SALES TAX is FIVE PERCENT.
		    Massachusetts MEALS TAX is FIVE PERCENT.

		    New Hampshire INCOME TAX is zilch.
		    New Hampshire SALES TAX is nada.
		    New Hampshire MEALS TAX is SEVEN PERCENT.

    (No one's mentioned meals tax before, but I thought I'd throw it in.)

							-- Nina

    Sorry-sliding scale as in the deductions vary.
    

    And now let's talk about PROPERTY TAXES. I have a 7 room house with
    a large garage on 1/3 acre in Waltham, MA.  (pop about 70,000).
    Waltham is 9 miles out of Boston, and provides most services to
    residents, e.g., garbage pick up, water, sewage, snow plowing, public
    library, police, fire, etc. In fact, the fire department will even
    pump out flooded basements free of charge. My taxes were $1,206.48
    for the year.
    
    My parents live in Rollinsford, a small town in southern N.H,next
    to Dover, and is classified as part of the "seacoast area".
    (I'm told that the population is up to 3000, but I suspect that
    this includes a few heads of cattle). They have a 5 room ranch with an
    attached garage on two acres of land. There is one full time police
    officer. The "downtown" area has town water and sewerage; a few
    streets have the ability to hook up to town water, but most people
    have their own pump, septic tank and dry well.  The fire dept. is
    volunteer, and again this year they had an item on the warrant to
    replace their 1946 pump truck (the item failed, again). Services
    are gradually going down; they now longer have trash pick up, roads
    aren't plowed as often, and rarely sanded. There is no public library,
    and for that matter, no movie theater (there are 2 in a 15 mile
    radius), no supermarket, no gas station, and no public transportation.
    There is, however, an elementary school (grades 1-6). Junior high
    and High School students are bussed into another town. My parents
    tax bill? $1583.64. I believe that there is also a $10/person annual
    "Resident Tax" (replaced the old head and poll taxes). Services
    that are available also seem a bit high to me; Their electric bill
    (for two retired people) is over $40 each month. Heating oil seems
    a bit higher than what I am paying, too.
    
    Now, I may have painted a picture that says that some N.H. residents
    aren't getting much for their tax dollars. One thing that I should
    point out, however, is that while the town (and thus school) expenses
    are shouldered by the residents with very few handouts form the
    state, since the county and state governments aren't providing any
    money, they also aren't able to tell the towns what to do. So you do
    have the closest thing to pure democracy in action; home rule (or
    Murphy's Golden Rule - He who has the gold makes the rules.)

        
    Live free or die,
    Deb

    Calif sales tax is about 7% (it varies by county) and my recollection
    is that the income tax, which is graduated, goes up to 11% or more.
    

    
    Yup Karen.  I don't think they know how good they have it back east!
    Maybe California should be named --- Taxifornia! 8^)

    FYI:  I'm originally from Michigan.  I have a townhouse in a Detroit
          suburb (no land) and my yearly taxes are about $1,700.00.
          So far N.H. and Mass. sound better than what I've ever had!    

    Donna 
    
    P.S.  What happened to the kitties .... what did I start here! 8^)
        

    I lived in Central Mass all my life until last November, when I
    moved to NH.  I *like* living and working in NH.  It's like getting
    an instant 5% raise when you transfer!  My auto insurance (which
    no one has heretofore mentioned) went down almost $400 dollars (for
    two cars).  The head tax in Plaistow is only $10 per person.  You
    don't need to get your car inspected as often.  My property taxes
    on a condo run +- $1,000 a year.  I'd be paying that if I bought
    a condo in Central Mass.  Yes, Mass has better social services,
    community services, etc.  But try to get on the waiting list to
    use them!  The pace of life is slower, which sounds strange living
    so close to the Mass border, but it is.  We don't feel as compelled
    to rush.  And yet, if we feel like rushing, Boston is only abou
    50 minutes away.  The mountains a mere two hours.  The beach a scant
    30 minutes.  I sound like a promotional brochure!  If there is a
    drawback I can think of, I would guess it would be that the towns
    on the Mass/NH border can seem sterile.  Since there is such an
    influx of people right now,  there isn't the continuity or sense
    of community you might find in places further north or in central
    Mass where I'm from.  I'll tell you what you do get though, tourists!
    They arrive with the insects and stay till the snow flies, but they
    are only at their worst from July 4th until Labor Day.
    
    All in all, it's been worth it for me!  Plus I got to have two kitties
    when I bought my condo!  Who could ask for more!
    
    Mary-Michael

    We just bought a house in MA near the border.  We looked a little at
    both sides of the border, and discovered that NH real estate taxes were
    typically $600-$1000 higher for comparable houses ($160K's) in
    comparable communities (though we didn't really investigate services or
    schools that much).  Thus the higher property taxes in NH aren't likely
    to outweigh the lower income tax for a two income family, but they
    might for a single income family.  In any event, they decrease the
    difference between the two states. And don't forget that Uncle Sam
    typically pays 25% of the difference anyway.  (We obviously chose a
    situation where our taxes are higher, but aren't there more imporant
    things than money?) 
    
    New Hampshire has a little-known income tax.  It's on interest, and I
    believe on other unearned income.  There's a relatively high
    deductible, so many people don't even know it exists.  If you live in
    NH, and your earning several thousand a year in interest, you should be
    paying NH tax.  I believe the rate is 5% for interest from NH sources,
    and 10% for interest from outside sources.
    
    MA just changed its tax laws to help cover a budget deficit.  I'm
    not sure what the real effects are, but I haven't heard anything
    about the rates going up.  As far as I know, it's still 5% on earned
    income and MA interest, and 10% on unearned income (capital gains,
    etc.) and non-MA interest.  I'd have to check the forms to be sure
    about which type of income is taxed at which rate.
    
    Many people evade the MA sales tax by shopping in NH, or by shopping by
    mail.  This won't work for automobiles, and it won't work for
    deliveries to MA by stores that operate in MA.  You can't go to a NH
    branch of Sears and ask them to deliver a refrigerator to MA and expect
    them to not charge sales tax.  If you pick it up yourself, or buy at a
    store that doesn't do business in MA, that's another story.  Even with
    the sales tax, it might still be cheaper to buy certain items in MA,
    because the increased competition and population density holds prices
    down.  Bicycles and bicycle parts, for example, are cheaper in Boston
    than in NH, because the high density of college students makes for more
    bicycle stores, which then have to compete on price. 
    
    Condo complexes typically have the right to prohibit pets.  I'd
    be surprised at a townhouse complex that did this, but I can imagine
    many apartment style condos that would.  I don't think you'll find
    a noticeable difference between MA and NH in this respect.
    
    MA landlord-tenant laws strongly favor the tenant.  This is certainly
    a factor if you're planning on renting.  Still, they don't say anything
    about pets.
    
    In summary, the NH tax burden is relatively low, and it's probably
    the most efficient state when it comes to collecting and spending
    its money effectively (though that's certainly debatable).  MA is
    actually about average on a nationwide scale, though it's either
    the first or second highest in New England.  (Connecticut might
    be higher.)  New York, Pennsylvania, and I'd guess New Jersey are
    all higher.  
    
       Gary

    PS Auto inspections in both MA and NH are both once a year, except for
    old cars.  In NH, cars older than seven years must be inspected
    twice a year.  I don't know whether MA has any such rules.  In MA,
    the inspection includes an exhaust test.  Only certain parts of
    NH require exhaust tests, but Nashua is one of them.  NH auto
    bureaucracy is actually worse in terms of rules, although the offices
    are less crowded.  Since NH ties inspection to your birth month,
    most people wind up paying for two inspections their first year
    in the state.

    ...and then there's those excise taxes on the car.  They were late
    on the 87 taxes so I have to pay my '87 and '88 taxes only 2 months
    apart.  $400 in taxes, a budget breaker for me.
    
    ...and the retroactive car insurance hike.  Imagine paying your
    1987 insurance bill and then being told you still owe them 10% more.
    
    NH looks nicer and nicer to me as I sit here shelling out money
    in Mass...
    
    ...but your kitties won't care either way, unless the Duke starts taxing
    them... ;-)
       

    I've lived and worked in Mass most of my life.  I like it here,
    but will never be able to own a home.  Most of my friends have moved
    to Virgina and N.C. and I'm thinking seriously of following.  I'll
    miss the change of seasons, but a home of my own for under $100K
    is quite attractive!
    
    Landlords generally say 'no pets' because they've had a bad experience
    with a careless tenant or they've heard horror stories from other
    landlords.  Generally, once you see the apt. and meet the landlord
    face to face if you mention a house cat he'll relent.  But don't
    ever mention one (or two) over the phone before you've met!