What am I getting for my taxes here in the North?

Question

Recently moved from the South to the North, there are now three taxes on my house (in the South there was one) at about double what I was paying before, we pay an income tax to the local municipality, never did that before, of course our state charges income tax, the rate is probably higher. So what are we getting?

less services, recycling pick up only every other week, most people don't even bother recycling

no municipal or county dump or land fill to get rid of things

narrow, winding, potholed streets with ugly weeds and guard rails (in the South we had nicely curbed wide smooth streets with lovely landscaping)

teachers about to go on strike and lazy unionized public workers

people who work in shops and stores ignore customers and carry on their own conversations (yesterday I bagged my own groceries in Giant Eagle while 5 workers gabbed nearby)

NO adresses, no streetsigns with block numbers, you can't find anything!

Yuck! I know I've gone off beyond taxes!

Answer 1

I've lived in both areas and don't share your views.

I have never lived in a local municipality that taxed income. In New York, the only one I can think of is Yonkers and all five boroughs of New York City.

Road clearing and road maintenance are much more expensive in the north (as a rule) because of snow removal and the damage done to roads from rock salt and snow removal.

Police generally make much more money in the north than the south. Any of these municipal services will add to taxes greatly.

The other big one was school taxes. The schools generally pay their teachers more which costs more both in current salaries and retirement benefits. I'm not saying either way is right, it is just different.

Beyond taxes:
Where I live in the south has very narrow roads that aren't terribly well kept. Where I lived in the north had nice wide roads.

Where I live in the south, they don't collect recycleables at the curb. The private company that I have to pay doesn't do that. In the north my garbage was paid for in my property taxes and they would take anything on any given week. They collected recycleables every week.

In the south, no local landfill, up north we had one that was very inexpensive!

In the south I can't get someone to do work at my house. They don't show when they say they will and even when scheduled can't seem to get the job done. In the north, this was never an issue. Down here it seems that everyone expects poor customer service and they just don't get around to you.

I think we are both experiencing local issues. It sounds like you'd like to go back south and I'd like to go back north!! :-)

good luck!

Answer 2

where in the "North" are you? Doesn't sound like my area. Some of the issues you mention have nothing to do with taxes. Trash and recycling are usually paid like a utility, not a tax, workers in stores ignoring people is irrelevant to taxes - you must live out in the sticks if you don't have street signs or paved roads - aren't teachers unionized down south? If not, that's porbably why education in the South in generally inferior to the north

Answer 3

Oddly enough the north isn't one big state, so everything depends on the state and city you live in. Just like the roads when I lived in MD were much better well-kept then those where i live now in NC. You can also complain to the department of transportation in your city about the potholes and most serious ones will get fixed within a week or so. Also the state and local tax department can give you a breakdown of what you're paying for. I bet most of it goes to education and road maintenance.