Taxes driving people out of Jersey

Star Ledger ^ | 07.30.06 | KARIN PRICE MUELLER

[Ancesthntr]

..."I wouldn't *got* back." Fat finger alert.

[JeffChrz]

2004: Bought 2200 sq ft townhouse in my hometown in Burlington County, NJ for $308k. Annual real estate taxes were ~$7000 (and have since gone up).
2005: Sold townhouse for $340k.
2006: Bought 2600 sq ft single family home in Pinal County, AZ for $280k (on a big lot, even by NJ standards). Annual real estate taxes are <$2000.

I ain't goin' back to New Jersey.

[Youngman442002]

Great I live in Colorado..so now we have a NJ family move here...probably libs.....and will turn our state into a Hell also...oh and by the way...next year they will vote for "no Growth" measures...they will not want anyone else moving here...

[gr8eman]

The arrogant a$$holes and losers were enough to convince me to leave.

[OldFriend]

It's not just the taxes, it's the level of arrogance, corruption, and downright disdain for the average homeowner.

Keep in mind that the sales tax will be 7% on October 1st.

[OldFriend]

Please don't vote for NO growth before we get to retire to CO next year.

[MinorityRepublican]

Strangely enough, Maryland is still gaining population. But that is probably the result of immigration.

[leprechaun9]

One of my measures of the NJ tax burden is how the morning rush hour starts earlier and earlier with each passing month. I live near I78 and where the sounds of traffic usually became continuous about 6:30AM, it now begins at 5:30AM as more NY commuters are traveling from PENNSYLVANIA. I call it the tax burden consequence!

[durasell]

Taxes driving people out of Jersey



Well, at least they're being driven -- because they drive like maniacs on their own.

[goldstategop]

The bad news is New Jersey's libs take their tax and spend mindset along with them when they move out of the Garden State.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[mc5cents]

Problem is that the liberals of New Jersey will leave, only to inflict the same fate at the next state that they move to....

You got that right. The NY liberal virus has already infected North Carolina. Charlotte is turning into NY South.

[goldstategop]

I don't really have any sympathy for them. They voted for the party that favors high taxes and spending. So why don't they want to put up with it? The old adage applies here - you get what you vote for. And an $11,000 property tax bill ought to be chump change for New Jersey liberals.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Fresh Wind]

The only fun I have had driving in New Jersey is when I'm on the highway, headed out (and it's only a quick few hours to the Pennsylvania or New York border in any direction)

You must think it's fun to dodge Pennsylvania's potholes and craters.

[mewzilla]

Thanks for the thread.

Same thing is true for NYS.

The Facts on New York’s Tax Climate

This is whap happens when folks elect Dems and RINOs...

[pepsi_junkie]

I don't really have any sympathy for them. They voted for the party that favors high taxes and spending.

Bite your tongue! YOu need to think of NJ as two states, North Jersey and South Jersey. Very different entities. NYC dominates one, Philly dominates the other. North Jersey is where all the stereotypical New Jersey things are (big chemical plants spewing toxic fumes, broken down cities, population density similar to that inside a major bee hive, etc). South Jersey is much less developed, more spread out, fewer people, etc.

The problem is that North Jersey dominates the state politically. Name the last Senator or Governor from South Jersey. You cannot unless you want to go back beyond my memory. And North Jersey is stuffed to the gills with liberal NYC exiles who appratently will vote for any democrat no matter how corrupt or morally bankrupt. I never voted for a democrat in this state, and I never will unless they change their priorities 180 degrees. Of course the Repubilicans are all RINOs, so not much help there.

I'd move out of this state in a heartbeat if my wife would have it. But we'll have a libertarian governor before that will happen.

[Osage Orange]

Left SoCal in '97-98.....for OK.

Never looked back..and have very little desire to ever visit.

FRegards,

[Polyxene]

"I don't know what happened that made into a tax Hell."

One reason: Electing RAT/lib/socialists like Corzine.

[SirLinksalot]

If people are being driven out of New Jersey, can someone explain to me how Moorestown, NJ came to be selected by MONEY magazine in its annual survey as the BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN THE USA IN 2006 ?

SEE HERE :

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-11-nj-town-best-place-to-live_x.htm

Here is how they describe Moorestown :

---

Money looked at towns with at least 14,000 people and crunched the numbers on population, property value, school quality, recreation, safety and other factors. Magazine reporters were dispatched to the 12 top towns to decide which had the most community spirit.

After Moorestown, the top towns were Bainbridge Island, Wash.; Naperville, Ill.; Vienna, Va.; and Louisville, Colo. Three other New Jersey towns were in the top 100: Chatham, 9; Princeton, 15; and Hackettstown, 72.

Craig Matters, a senior editor at Money, said the list will likely have more of an effect on bragging rights than on anything like real estate prices. The magazine publishes annual lists of other best places to live, focusing in past years on small towns, coastal communities.

"It's a point of civic pride. It ends up on all their stationery, on all their Web sites," Matters said. "It's not like these places have inferiority complexes to begin with."

In Michael's Kitchen, a couple of tables full of mostly retired men gather each morning for pancakes, coffee, jokes and complaints about their town's rising taxes, worsening traffic and the swath of homes that has replaced farmland over the last 15 years or so.

So, what about the title from Money?

No complaints.

"Everything you'd want in a nice small hometown America is right here in Moorestown," said Joseph Wujcik, 72, who grew up in Moorestown, ran his pharmacy and raised six children here before retiring to a smaller house in nearby Mount Laurel.

Moorestown, with a hair under 20,000 people, was settled in 1682. By the 1920s, it was a desirable address for the captains of industry in Camden and Philadelphia. The town's roots in Quakerism — a practice that values simplicity — helped bring it a reputation for not flaunting its wealth.

The old-timers at breakfast say that's one thing that has changed in zip code 08057. "They want you to know," said Alex McGugan, 74, a retired golf pro. "That's why they move into town."

Plenty of executives still inhabit its 15-square miles. But the best-known citizens these days are a number of Philadelphia Eagles players, including star quarterback Donovan McNabb.

There are century-old mansions in one part of town, newer "McMansions" in another and neighborhoods of postwar suburban-style homes that help account for the $375,000 median price tag on a single-family home. There's a buzzing downtown full of law offices, antique shops and independent shops such as the beloved Peter Pan Bakery and Happy Hippo toys. A large mall sits near the border.

Moorestown is still a place where the community musical production (this summer, it's "Oklahoma!") is one of the biggest events of the year. And each February, the town takes a week to celebrate being nice. This year, child "kindness ambassadors" met with the mayor to talk about passing along civility.

It's a town where streets this summer are lined with 30 painted statues of Nipper, the Victor Talking Machine Co.'s iconic mascot, in honor of company founder and native son Eldridge Johnson.

It's a place where moms like Maura Rafferty let their children walk downtown by themselves for ice cream or pretzels. "They do old-fashioned stuff," said the mother of three, who moved to town from another suburb four years ago.

And the children don't forget.

"We raised five children here," said Pat Miller, whose husband is a former mayor. "All of them want to come back."

---

GO FIGURE.

[bankwalker]

Name the last Senator or Governor from South Jersey. You cannot unless you want to go back beyond my memory.

Flim Flam Florio - (name bestowed by the great Bob Grant)

[KellyAdmirer]

Well, the worst thing about driving through PA is trying to find a gas station on the highway when you are running low. On some stretches, it's quite a distance.