Not a good sign for construction in My area.

[Timothy]

That really blows guys...

My town in CT put in dead ended laterals to all of the sewer and water lines and included the costs into the assessments.  All I had to do was tie my main to the septic down the foundation to the driveway and tie into the lateral.  Like I said about a grand of my own money and paid the assessment over ten years.  That cost included pumping and collapsing of the existing septic tank.

I even got the town to re-sod part of my front yard because they added 10 feet when they set in the curbs.

[TAB]

sounds like you are paying for thier service by another means.

Which is not uncommon.

having done several decommisioning of sepctic/cess pools, it cost alot more then a grand for just the pumping out and cleaning out of a larger system.

[Timothy]

sounds like you are paying for thier service by another means.

Nope, my taxes on that house were less than 1500 a year.  Granted, we had a nuclear power plant in town paying the lions share of the tax base but even after the ten year agreement ended, our taxes didn't go up 20%.  The use fees were tied to the water service which ran about 180 per quarter.  We even had free trash removal.....

One thing we didn't have in town was a welfare office...

CT taxes are not as high as people think they are and neither are our taxes in MA.  Most of my taxes here are sales and use taxes on gas, electricity, cable, telephone and stuff.  I'd live here before I'd move back to CA.

[TAB]

you have to be paying it by other means. 

just becuase you are not paying them the money directly it does not mean you are not paying it.

Every thing the goverment does, you pay for.  Some times its directly, some times its not.

I'd bet that power plant is paying most of it.

Alaska is a perfect example of large companys paying for just about every thing in the state(oil and fishing)  its why they have relativly low tax, but thier per capita tax is so high.  a very small group is paying a very large amount.

[Timothy]

you have to be paying it by other means. 

just becuase you are not paying them the money directly it does not mean you are not paying it.

I'd bet that power plant is paying most of it.

Yes, it's called industry!  We allow industry, nuclear plants, submarine construction, bio-med, electronics, health care, the military and other industries thrive in the New England states.  It's why, even now, we have low unemployment rates, relavatively inexpensive electricity and low state income taxes.

Again, it's the use taxes, gas, booze, cigarettes and luxury items that you get hammered for.  If you don't spend a lot of money, and I don't, you pay less taxes.  Simple enough......

As Rastus says, you've gotten used to the fact that things are rediculously expensive and refuse to believe that it could be better elsewhere.

[Sponsor]

[TAB]

so the fact that some one else is paying makes it less expensive?


Are you sure you did not vote for Obama?

[Timothy]

so the fact that some one else is paying makes it less expensive?

Are you sure you did not vote for Obama?

You're missing the point there Kid...we don't have the rediculous regulations you have.  What should I have to pay that you're confused about?  What fee should I pay?  I ask the towns for nothing, never have!

In fact, in CT and MA I can be the prime contractor on my own house.  As long as I follow code and pull the proper permits and get the proper inspections and signoffs, I can do 100% of the work myself.  I don't know about the other NE states because I've not live in them yet.

The towns I live in are just that, TOWNS, they are not cities that suck the very soul out of their societies.  I refuse to live in ANY city in this country.  The population of my town in CT was about 10-12K, the town I live in now is 4,039 and we do just fine!

[jaybet]

I think that almost everywhere the homeowner can act as their own GC assuming the meet all requirements. Whether or not that translates into cost savings is another question entirely. Professional contractors look at fees and licenses as  a part of doing business, and those costs just add to the cost of the house. When someone buys the house it includes all those costs.

In my area municipalities had different requirements and many had set up a lot of their own fees. The bureaucratic overhead varied a lot from town to town, and it showed in property costs. The funny part is, it becomes part of the inflated value of the property and they end up assessing property taxes partly on those big crappy fees they charged for you to build the place.

Like so many other things, construction is double, triple, and probably even quadruple taxed by our innovative government.

[TAB]

no where in the country can you do 100% of the work.   No untily will let you touch thier stuff, some will let lic people do it. for the most part you still need to envole the untilty, to do part of it. 

What I'm talking about is if a job cost 5k to do, and they only bill you 1k,  some one is still paying for it.  Its just not you directly, it does not make it less expesinve.

 While some costs can be very diffrent from area to area,  many stay the same.  a 90k back hoe is a 90k back hoe.  20 gallons of fuel per hour is still 20 gallons of fuel per hour.  A truck tire is a truck tire.  Etc, etc.  The fact of the matter there are really only 2 things that really change price wise in this country, thats labor and material.  In the case of road way construction, the main reason why materail prices are diffrent is do to transpertion cost.  if you nee 3/4 crushed stone and you live in say mississippi, you are going to pay more for it then you would here.  Sand would be the other way around.

[Timothy]

no where in the country can you do 100% of the work.   No untily will let you touch thier stuff, some will let lic people do it. for the most part you still need to envole the untilty, to do part of it. 

You are correct.  Then 99%!

TAB, the point I tried to make is that there are places in this country that actually stop spending money when the town budgets are exhausted.

One way to bring more money into a town is to allow more business which in turn creates jobs and adds to the tax base.  Fees established for building homes that are excessive only have one result......less homes, less work, less employment, etc....because every fee you incurr you pass on to the homeowner.  Eventually, you have no work because no one can afford to live in these areas.

I truely wish I could live somewhere else but obviously it's not as bad as some areas.  I wish you all the best but you're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

And to anwer your question......I voted for my DOG as a write in candidate!