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Comment by free_rms | Hacker News Reader

5% isn't really that high unless you're comparing to zero. And, right at the border, NH property taxes are correspondingly higher.

Gotta pay for stuff somehow, it's not the federal government.

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In addition, our paying for everything with property taxes creates such an unfair imbalance poorer towns went to the Supreme Court to fight for fairer school funding.

They lost of course, because we could afford better lawyers.

NH property taxes [can be] high but, even in southern NH, property prices are a fair bit lower than the immediate Boston area for the most part.

"Taxachussets" isn't really that bad these days compared to, say, California in terms of taxes. But it's still a lot higher than NH which doesn't provide the level of services that MA does in general.

Back in the day, in Connecticut we used to quip about "Taxachusetts", but now Connecticut business mainstays like GE are moving north because the Massachusetts tax regime isn't so bad compared to where CT has gotten.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax -- Mass is in the middle of the pack for total tax burden, way below places like Mississippi for example.

"Taxachussetts" is catchy, and MA is culturally liberal, so the perception sticks.

If you're a jerk and you're ugly you're gonna get called ugly more often than if you're just ugly.

Massachusetts has a lot of stuff wrong with it governmentally and culturally (none of which have much to do with where the state falls on a left/right axis) so nobody is gonna cut it a break when it comes to taxing people.

While we may be middle of the pack, we do have a lot of taxes: Income tax, sales tax, gas tax, meals tax, property tax, vehicle excise tax and "use tax" (that's where if you buy something like a TV in tax free NH, you're supposed to declare it on your MA Form-1 tax form and pay the sales tax on it).

Then you get into the astronomical MWRA water & sewer rates and then to town garbage pickup charges etc. (in addition to the property taxes). Finally if the local fire department/tax payer funded ambulance ever gives you a ride to the hospital, expect a $1500/mile charge there.

It certainly can add up!

Agreed. We're middle of the road as far as income tax goes. Start adding in things like sales tax, fees paid to government, sin taxes, etc. and the net tax burden is pretty high.

Also, local governments very much have a "wring out every cent we can" attitude. Places full of rich people who step in line tax the crap out of people. Places like New Bedford and Fitchburg know that if they charge people more than a token amount for trash they'll just be pulling it out of the river.

The link that the GP posted is suggests we're middle of the road as far as total tax burden, not income tax specifically.

We're in the top ten according to the "total revenue" graph and top 20 (or maybe we were 21 or 22, I didn't really count accurately and don't feel like going back, solidly in the top half in any case) in terms of marginal rate.

> "use tax" (that's where if you buy something like a TV in tax free NH, you're supposed to declare it on your MA Form-1 tax form and pay the sales tax on it).

That's been present in every state I've ever lived in. Illinois even had a "here's a number to fill in if you don't want to calculate it."

New York and North Carolina have that as well. I imagine all states with a sales tax probably do now (frankly it’s just a smart move on their part to avoid losing a large source of revenue to untaxed online purchases) “We estimate households with your income spend about X$ per year on out of state purchases. Enter $Y for use tax owed?”

Can you give some examples of the difference in services between states? In Canada we use "equalization" formulas and generally, services are pretty similar across the country (with some exceptions-- education, health)

I know from layoffs at Raytheon Woburn (a city in Massachusetts between NH and Boston), those that lived in NH got much less unemployment.

The public school systems around Boston are top notch. (A major point for employees with children). Major international airport down the highway another selling point.

NH amazon bid knocks Massachusetts (Its road/traffic, which pre pandemic was truly aweful...) but reminds Am amazon its close to our restaurants and universities. https://www.wbur.org/bostonomix/2017/10/18/new-hampshire-ama...

>The public school systems around Boston are top notch.

The public schools where the rich are are great. Boston is ringed by rich suburbs. If your not rich enough to live somewhere with good schools MA schools are middling.

If you're poor the state healthcare system you're eligible for is much more comprehensive in MA.

Sick leave, paid parental leave, stricter environmental standards and enforcement, better minimum wage and work condition laws, etc.

The "higher property taxes in NH" is a myth unless you own water-front property in NH. It may well have been true a long time ago, but these days the tax rate in many MA towns particularly around Boston is higher than most NH towns.

I'm talking, like, Nashua compared to just over the border in MA. Similar cost of living areas.

Yes, Arlington or Nantucket will be higher than both.

Source? I live miles from the water and my property taxes on 400k are 12k. Is that normal?

The biggest driver is property valuation. The rates parts of NH (e.g. southern) might be higher $ per/$1K, but the valuation will be way lower -- your 4 BR cape in Arlington might be valued at $1M, but it'd be $200K in NH.

Up in Merrimack, Sullivan counties in NH, the tax rates are lower than Southern NH. Towns in MA like Lexington ($15/$1K) and Amherst ($21/1K) are ridiculous (and have high valuations).

(and no, $12K on a $400K house seems outrageous, that's like $30 per $1K)

I'm in north centralish Mass and my property taxes are about $4K on a $300K-$400K property so that seems very high.

And yet here I am. It feels like you may have been mistaken.

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