WinsingtonIII t1_it2buxu wrote on October 20, 2022 at 1:00 PM

Reply to comment by vartanarsen in Massachusetts is 3rd most stressed state in the US, study says by Omphaloskeptique

Our tax burden is roughly average for a US state: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494

21st in the nation and only 0.58% of income above Texas, which is often thought of as a "low tax" state.

vartanarsen t1_it2fxj5 wrote on October 20, 2022 at 1:30 PM

you clearly didnt see where im talking about double digit thousands in Property tax

WinsingtonIII t1_it2gak7 wrote on October 20, 2022 at 1:33 PM

I mean that's very dependent on what town you live in, property tax is set by the municipality, not at a statewide level. I don't pay anywhere near double digit thousands annually, my property tax rate would have to double to hit $10k annually.

vartanarsen t1_it2hh8r wrote on October 20, 2022 at 1:42 PM

It does matter, because Im paying high for my town to pay for our polkice etc, but then im paying double to mass to pay for the other towns whose residents arent pulling their weight in paying their police etc., then im paying tripple federally for southern states.
You didnt read my entire post

WinsingtonIII t1_it2imc6 wrote on October 20, 2022 at 1:50 PM

I agree that paying for failing southern states is frustrating, but that's a federal taxation issue, really nothing MA can control.

As for our state taxes funding things like MassHealth, ConnectorCare, etc. it's hard to complain about that as they are valuable programs that help people and make MA have the lowest uninsured rate in the nation. A welfare state isn't about "how can I personally benefit", it's about helping people who need help. I think our state could and should continue to improve its welfare state so it helps more people, but it's already more extensive and helps more people than in most US states.

Either way, my initial point was simply that complaining about taxes in a state with very average taxes seems a bit silly. There really aren't that many states with noticeably lower taxes than MA. The middle 30 or so states are roughly the same as MA and there are 10-15 that are noticeably higher. So maybe 5-10 states total where the difference is actually noticeably lower. If someone wants to move to one of those states, that's fine, but it's hardly like MA is New York and is leading the nation in tax burden.

vartanarsen t1_it2js9a wrote on October 20, 2022 at 1:58 PM

Got it so your solution to me is to move to Lowell or Lawrence so people in Andover can pay for my police and fire and school ? Or move south ?

WinsingtonIII t1_it2knyq wrote on October 20, 2022 at 2:05 PM

If property taxes are bothering you, then sure, move to a town with lower property taxes. The idea that only Lowell or Lawrence have lower property taxes is ridiculous, I live in a nice town with pretty good schools and the property taxes seem much more reasonable than yours. My house would have to be assessed at $900k (and assessments always lag the actual market, mine is assessed at ~$150k below market rate) to be paying >$10k annually property taxes, in which case I would be comfortably upper middle class so I'd have a hard time complaining.

Otherwise, you just seem mad about stuff that isn't specific to Massachusetts, so no idea what to tell you there.