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The husband and I each received a check in the mail the other day.
.
.
No, it’s not another round of Covid stimulus money. It’s a distribution from what is apparently a huge stash of surplus tax revenue.
.
.
Every Maine resident received them and while extra money is always nice, it does make me wonder why there was such a huge surplus to begin with. Clearly our taxes are too high and to be honest… I’d much rather they reduce that burden then send everyone a check. Or they could fix the roads and bridges. Or build affordable housing. Or expand the heating oil assistance program. With the current price of fuel, winter will break a lot of people.
And if you’re wondering how that money will be used at Casa River?
.
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It will try to slake the never ending thirst of our twin oil tank beasts. And at just over $5 a gallon? Both checks combined won’t come anywhere near to filling them.
😫
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River's world..... 
What exactly is this oil for? I’m more aghast at that than the $850 check….so educate me please?
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Heating oil. Our house has a forced hot air furnace.. .
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So there’s no natural gas up reaching your property? I only ask because I know that up north people do use heating oil. But, since I’ve lived all my life with natural gas heated homes, I find it fascinating y’all get heating oil brought in.
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We live in the country, no natural gas lines. Or water and sewer hook up. Or cable tv for that matter. Our internet is still broadband on a telephone line.
🥴
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We live 800 kms ( 500 miles) from the nearest real city. Our town has a revolving population of 3500 winter residents that has stayed steady for the past 15 years, at least. We have cable, natural gas, satellite internet if you want it. A lot of homes are heated by electricity. Even the farms have everything the townspeople have. We are at the 58.5°N lattitude. 2/3 the way up the world from the equator. YOU are way below us, closer to everything than we are. How do you not have any of these? America, the land of plenty? Plenty of unspported utilities. I do not understand.
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I could have satellite internet, but it’s plagued with problems here and not worth the price. We do have Direct TV. Electric heat would bankrupt you in Maine. I can’t even imagine.
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Wow, still I envy your country living. You have a beautiful home, with a gorgeous stretch of land and all the wildlife you get as neighbors.
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The slow internet can be annoying. But I do most things from my phone anyway….
It’s a small price to pay.
🙂
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They’re doing the same thing in California. Must be a coastal thing.
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Our property taxes are high. That’s got to be where it’s coming from.
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Oil’s well that ends well
If you strike an oil well.
Failing that, claim your tanks and cat(s)
As dependents on your income tax.
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If only I could.
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Property taxes are high here also. As you noted, that’s probably where your “relief” checks came from.
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I’m not complaining mind you, but it seems like there are always plenty of worthy underfunded projects.
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I need to move to Maine….lol
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It does have its privileges.
😉
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You know those “related” posts they suggest at the bottom of the comments? This post was suggested after these comments:
http://cpmaine.org/2021/12/05/income-of-wealthiest-in-maine-nearly-doubled-from-2019-to-2020-report-shows-by-evan-popp/
Enjoy!
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Interesting. And sad, we really are becoming a two class society.
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Yup. Except, class doesm’t exist anymore, right?
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We traded in our oil burner for a heat pump about twelve years ago, more for the A/C than the heat. Good thing, too It’ll heat the house, but it’s really slow to do it. We have a fireplace with an insert and our living room gets hot enough to roast a turkey. Unfortunately, the thermostat is in the same room, so the rest of the house gets cold. Except for my room. It used to be a garage so it’s not part of the central air system. That’s good news for me, I guess, but I could sure put $1700 to work.
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We put a heat pump in the man cave and as you say, it’s great for a/c … but kills us for heat. That first winter electric bill made my jaw drop.
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It’s crazy how they could mess up the budget so much that they had to refund people…and you know it costs to REFUND people. Paperwork, workers hours, etc…
I’ve never seen household oil tanks in real life.
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Common sight up here. Although we have dual tanks, a lot of people just have one.
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Oregon used to do the same thing – send you tax revenue checks every year. It was great, until I moved to Washington. No idea if they’re still doing that these days.
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This is our first. But I feel like they’re giving us back our own money.
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Hardworking middle-class families? What about the ‘lower’ class who work their butts off in really awful jobs that no-one else wants to do just to make ends meet?
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