?'s to the vermonters about cost of living

[ctjim]

i may have the possibility to make a job move from ct to vt and i am wondering what the taxes and cost of living is up that way? if i have the opportunity to go i would have to live within a 45min commute of rutland, so i think i could also potentially live on the ny/vt border as well. it seems to me it would be a lot less tax wise than what i'm at in ct right now. also since we are "flatlanders" would it be hard to get started doing a small maple and a small veggie operation like we do now on a part time basis. thanks for any insight you can provide,jim.

[Brokermike]

Wow,

Don't hear of too many folks moving (with a job) to Vermont. If you need to be near Rutland you can find reasonable property near Wallingford, or Danby. That puts you right in maple heaven. The taxes per $ of assesed value will not be less than your paying now, your house will simply be worth less. As a buyer you'd be sitting in the catbird seat right now. By and large we've gotten over the flatlander problem, afterall we've been electing a flatlander self described socialist for 30 years. Just don't show up to town meeting and complain about anything and you'll be fine.

Also if you have any kids I'd suggest looking for a town that offers school choice so you can send them wherever you **** well please, otherwise they could end up in some one room relect of a school building with lousy teachers, low test scores, and the inability to do anything about it because of the teacher's union.

Good luck and PM me if you want more info, my office is only about 30 minutes from Rutland so I'm familiar with the area and I can tell you what to avoid

[ctjim]

thanks for the reply brokermike, this is just in its begining stages. i had applied for a job w/ cvps back in june and just got a call for a preliminary interview. if i got the job i would almost def take it, but problem is i would have to sell my place here in ct and now its a buyers market here w/ out many buyers.

[davey]

I wonder how much time people who blame the teacher's unions for their child's poor education actually put into ensuring that their child gets whatever educational needs necessary when they live in an underfunded region? Typically not much, as it is much easier to blame someone else rather than step up to the plate yourself. In those same districts, how often have you voted no to school budget increases that would have allowed the district to make the necessary improvements to the children of that area's education?

[maplwrks]

ct jim---what job did you apply for??

[Brokermike]

Davey,

Things may be different in NY than here in VT. But around here our K-12 staffing has increased 24.6% since 1997, and enrollment has fallen by 14.2% In addition our average student to teacher ratio has gone from 15.4 to 1 to 10.2 to 1. We have some very small, old schoolhouses, in desperate need of repairs (multi-million dollar repairs!). Those same schools cannot be shut down, the kids can't be sent to one of the new technologically advanced wired schools, simply because we can't move the teachers to the new school because of their contract. In my area they cannot be moved, the union structured it that way to prevent layoffs, at the same time we have an aging demographic, so we have many fewer children than we did just ten years ago. My local school has gone from 346 at the peak to 194 today. I'm on the local school board and we struggle with the costs weekly, we have a small school in the adjoining town that we could easily absorb, but we can't consolidate because we can't move the teachers and if we increase the # of students per class (above the whopping 12 we average now), a couple of teachers would be let go.

My main point was don't move to one of those towns! Research the schools, the number of students, and the NECAP scores very carefully. The funding mechanism for local schools in Vermont is very complicated and with the current budget deficit we could have some serious problems with local taxes in some towns. Any structural changes to the funding mechanism could cause havoc on local rates. In addition, if you happen to have children the towns with school choice not only provide great educational opportunity but the property values have tended to be more stable.

Cheers

[ctjim]

ct jim---what job did you apply for??

maplworks, do you work for them? i applied for a telecomtech position they had open. i'm sure like most companies in their line of business its very hard to get into, just like back here. honestly i never thought i would be looking for work out of state, but since my job after 12yrs was downsized and the only thing i have been able to find is a dairy farm position.

[farmall h]

Not to put down VT...lived here all my life...but...their may be possibilities across the river. NH may be another choice.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Mike Christain, it might be your job. I told you, no more mapletrader when you are at your desk at cvps.

[jlemieux]

Let's face it, Vermont is a mess! But hopefully it's not worse than CT. Not YET.

[DrTimPerkins]

Let's face it, Vermont is a mess!

In some ways perhaps, however the State deficit is very small in comparison to most other states and the unemployment rate is only about 5.7%, which is only a tad bit higher than what is was prior to the current economic downturn.

[Brian Ryther]

By birth I am a NY'er. I moved to VT in 95 to go to college and stayed for 15 years. I moved back to NY about a year ago. I have lived, worked and paid taxes in both states. My daughter went to the smallest school in VT (Plymouth) and received a good elementary education. From my experience I think that VT is a great place to live and work. There is a strong work ethic in VT that I have yet to see in NY. Taxes in VT are town by town problem. I lived in Plymouth which was considered a "gold town." A great town to live in but the tax rate was outrageous. I have found the NY taxes to be much more reasonable. A lot of my former co workers lived in the Granville NY and Whitehall NY area and commuted to the Rutland area for work. Property values were much cheaper on the NY side of the boarder. Maybe not the nicest town to live in but you can make your home what you want it to be.

[Randy Brutkoski]

The unemployment rate in Rutland is about 10%. I believe it is the highest in the state. I am self employed and I get about 10 poeple ask me a week for a job. There is no work around here.

[DrTimPerkins]

The unemployment rate in Rutland...

November 2010 rate for Rutland Co. is 6.6% (seasonally adjusted), which is the 5th highest county (of 14) in the state. That is certainly down a bit from the peak unemployment though. Still, Rutland Co. unemployment is higher than surrounding areas, and Rutland City is probably the worst in that particular area.

[sugarmountain]

I think we all love vermont. Not just because its home but if you love maple production and its history this is it. I wish the state would stop regulating and taxing everything to death. Probably this is a accross the board thing.

[Randy Brutkoski]

I was talking about Rutland city. It is 8%. Actually it is 7.9%. Sorry I didnt specify better. It was up close to 10% this past spring.

[heus]

Davey,

Things may be different in NY than here in VT. But around here our K-12 staffing has increased 24.6% since 1997, and enrollment has fallen by 14.2% In addition our average student to teacher ratio has gone from 15.4 to 1 to 10.2 to 1. We have some very small, old schoolhouses, in desperate need of repairs (multi-million dollar repairs!). Those same schools cannot be shut down, the kids can't be sent to one of the new technologically advanced wired schools, simply because we can't move the teachers to the new school because of their contract. In my area they cannot be moved, the union structured it that way to prevent layoffs, at the same time we have an aging demographic, so we have many fewer children than we did just ten years ago. My local school has gone from 346 at the peak to 194 today. I'm on the local school board and we struggle with the costs weekly, we have a small school in the adjoining town that we could easily absorb, but we can't consolidate because we can't move the teachers and if we increase the # of students per class (above the whopping 12 we average now), a couple of teachers would be let go.

My main point was don't move to one of those towns! Research the schools, the number of students, and the NECAP scores very carefully. The funding mechanism for local schools in Vermont is very complicated and with the current budget deficit we could have some serious problems with local taxes in some towns. Any structural changes to the funding mechanism could cause havoc on local rates. In addition, if you happen to have children the towns with school choice not only provide great educational opportunity but the property values have tended to be more stable.

Cheers

Wow,
I'd love to have my kids in a school with a 10.2 student to teacher ratio.