Of interest to Connecticut boaters

[jcollins]

Read this on another boating website.

The proposed budget for fiscal 2012 and 2013 for CT contains many new taxes on boating

* Impose the Sales Tax on Repair and Maintenance Labor Charges
* Impose the Sales Tax on Winter Storage Charges
* Impose the Sales Tax on Towing
* Impose the Sales Tax on Brokerage Commissions
* Remove the Sales Tax Exemption on trade-in vehicle/boat (like item for like item)
* Add a 3% Luxury Tax on New Boat Sales over $100,000.00
* Sweep the Boating Account from DEP into the General Fund
* Allow Municipalities to reimpose Property Tax on Boats ( 20 mills)
* Increase the Sales Tax Rate to 6.35%

Many of these taxes will hit boat owners as soon as they are put into effect and in future years.

The tax exemptions in the boating industry are business tools that allowed survival and competition with similar industries in surrounding states. Competition with other New England States and New York is fierce. In Rhode Island there is no sales tax on boating. RI and NY boaters pay much lower registration fees.

The members of the Guilford boating community should know what is being proposed in Hartford. Please share information on these tax proposals with boat owners you know. Boat Owners should call, email or write our legislators and let them know we do not want more taxes on boating . Attached is a list of members of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. Rep. Pat Widlitz and Sen. Ed Meyer , our Guilford legislators are members of this committee. Contact them and let them know you do not want more taxes on boating.

Wednesday March 9, 2011 8:30 - 10 AM the Connecticut Marine Trades Association has organized a Breakfast with the Legislature at the Legislative Office Building, Hartford, CT to educate our representatives about the effect of the proposed budget on the Marine Industry.

*Directions at http://www.cga.ct.gov/capitoltours/directions.htm.

Further information can be obtained at CMTA 860-767-2645

[Denis]

These liberal states are great. Spend more money than they have then find/invent new taxes to help bail them out. Everyone that lives in states like CT are the but of everyone else s joke. But the best part is we keep voting them in!

[DougSea]

These liberal states are great. Spend more money than they have then find/invent new taxes to help bail them out. Everyone that lives in states like CT are the but of everyone else s joke. But the best part is we keep voting them in!

I don't think Malloy is concerned with the boaters of Bridgeport and Hartford that gave him the win.

The problem he faces is that punitive taxes raise money for a short while...then, as always, people alter their behavior to mitigate the tax bill. I don't have a ton of choices for storage but I WILL do everything I can to to avoid this. He should be looking to enhance this industry, not kill it.

[jleonard]

Just remember the 2 things we are certain about.
Death and taxes.
Maybe there's a 3rd...getting taxed to death.

In about a year when I will no longer have to work I plan on voting with my feet.

[powerboater56]

In about a year when I will no longer have to work I plan on voting with my feet.

I have been trying to vote with my feet out of high-taxed, profligate Rhode Island, but the over-taxed, slow-growth New England economies make it darned hard to sell a house.

Where are you heading toward that is lower-taxed and more appealing than Connecticut?

[jleonard]

Well 3 years ago we downsized homes and although right at the moment we would be hard pressed to break even, we already banked some profit and would also benefit by moving/buying in a much less costly arena.
Wife won't move to the Carolinas or Florida or Texas because it's too far from the kids and grandkids.
She's been looking at Delaware. Drivable to Ct, cheap to buy, taxes are very low, no tax on SS, within boating range on the Chesapeake and much more temperate climate than NW Ct.

just thinking...

[DougSea]

This whole thing is just so sad...Connecticut and the New England coast are just wonderful places, it's a pity our elected leaders can't figure out how not to mess it up.

I see the mid to south Atlantic in our future. And I NEVER thought I'd want to leave the Northeast.

[powerboater56]

This subject may not be exactly boating related, but where one lives has a major impact on whether and how they can go boating so maybe it is germane to the Albin site.

Leaving New England is something I never thought I would do, but Rhode Island has gotten itself into an economic morass of debt and unfunded pension issues that is so massive I feel property values could be significantly impacted over the next five to 10 years.

Where to go from here is really a difficult question. Delaware is an interesting choice! On the downside, Delaware Bay is a notoriously unpleasant place to boat. Chesapeake Bay is good for boating but pretty miserable in July and August and there is no swimming due to stinging jellyfish. The water is also an unappealing brown in most places.

North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia have pluses -- many areas are lower cost than New England, warmer in winter, and property taxes are substantially less. But in some ways the boating season isn't much longer than New England, because winters are in the 40's and 50's -- a bit too cold to boat -- and summers are in the mid to high 90's and humid -- pretty uncomfortable for boating.

I am starting to lean toward Florida, especially the area around Stuart. You can boat from October to June, you can swim in the ocean pretty much year-round, and the only season that is unpleasant is summer -- July through September. Yes, the kids and (future) grandkids will be far away, but that is why Southwest Airlines is in existence. And a southern roost will draw the kids down in winter more than a place in Delaware or the Carolinas. My feeling is that if I want to go someplace warm in winter, why go somewhere half-warm like the Carolinas? Summers in Florida and the Carolinas are both hot and humid, so why not go the place that has better winters? Much of Florida is high-rise crowded, but there are places like Stuart that are low-rise, less crowded and have nice big rivers and bays for good boating day trips.

At least, that is what I keep telling my wife -- who will probably insist on staying close to family in New England despite my doom and gloom scenario for Rhode Island.

[poillon1]

We too considered Delaware and went on an off season investigative tour a few years ago. We found that the issues that had driven Long Island property taxes through the roof were only a few years away in Delaware. There has been a family age population explosion in Delaware coastal areas, with liberal multi million dollar school bonds for swimming pools, etc. - water & sewer bonds, etc., etc. We suggest subscribing to the local paper for a while before making the leap and search out pending or proposed bond issues, etc. Sometimes the devil that you know is better than the one you don't

[jleonard]

That is good advice. Thank you.
But even so it is still much cheaper to live there than in Ct.

[jcollins]

Over the years I've traveled quite bit. I've been to every state on the east coast and mid-west. I have always compared my travels to my home state. Love it. Very happy to come back home.
It's rare to find jelly-fish in the upper bay and there are plenty of great anchorages and swimming holes. You could spend months cruising the bay. It's the largest estuary in the US. About 4400 square miles.

That being said, the water quality is not good in most sections of the bay.
Maryland taxes are getting just as bad as other states. In Baltimore we pay the highest tax rate in the State. But...I'm not moving anytime soon.

[tbnolin]

Two years ago,the thought of moving from Vermont was sooo far from my mind that it was never considered an option. We have since bought a place in Port St. Lucie FL. and rent it out. Now we are seriously considering a move from here to the south. This past winter has really taken a toll on my wife along with myself. I had back surgery about a month ago and I now realize that construction for the past 33 years has taken a beating on my poor little body.
Vermont was rated the lowest in foreclosures the last couple of years, and homes are selling, but not for what the were selling for a few years ago. The biggest hurdle for me was the fact that if we wanted to travel more on the boat, we would have to sell our place up here. We do have a daughter in Port. St. Lucie but for how long, we don't know. We have a son in Portland OR. and he has no intention to moving back this way.
As far as taxes are concerned, I believe we are lower than Ct., N.Y and maybe R.I and MA. So I guess that's really not the reason for us to consider a move....it's more weather related than anything else.