comparing New Hampshire to Maine

[luckyleftyme2]

How can you compare New Hampshire's fiscal responsibilities to Maine's?It's a lot like
comparing a blue berry pie whose size is different. bake a 6" pie and put a quart of
berries in it,then bake a 10" pie and use Aa quart of berries. quite a difference right.
Maine has many more miles of highway compared to our neighbor,many more schools,more miles of water and sewer lines. yet our population is about the same.
Now spread the cost out to maintain the store and you probably have the reason it costs more per capita in taxes to live in maine.
I'm sure the spin artists will have a ball with this; c'mon "jasoN"and "bill"
lets rumble!

[MaineDem]

1. Who's comparing? n/t

[ticapnews]

2. Well, many Republicans do when talking about taxes

I'll assume that's what lucky is talking about

[luckyleftyme2]

5. GOD I HOPE UR NOT AN ELECTED OFFICIAL

Seriously how can you live in Maine and not hear us being compared to NEW HAMPSHIRE ? I mean do you listen to any radio,read any Newspapers,or visit the local coffee shops?
Surely your response was either sarcastic or foolish;either reason will not help to
put the truth out to view!and actualy hardly worth a reply!

p.s. this was to reply to maine dem.

[MaineDem]

6. Self deleted.

It's just not worth it.

[mainegreen]

3. That's always something that bothered me.

New Hampshire and Maine have different fiscal requirements and priorities. Simply comparing tax rates without context of why those tax rates are set where they are is pretty irresponsible. Not to say that I wouldn't mind seeing the way taxes applied adjusted a little in Maine, though! :)

[luckyleftyme2]

4. a word to the wise

In 1953 I first worked for the New Hampshire highway dept. in the engineering field. not as a member of their dept but as a member of a consulting firm.
At that time N.H. entire engineering dept was less than one division office in Maine.
The majority of their work was hired out;the reason it changed was cost!
Think,how long does it take to drive from PORTSMOUTH to mass?how long does it take to drive from PORTSMOUTH to white river jnt. in Vermont?
how long does it take to drive from york to portsmouth? how long does it take to drive from Portland to Bethel?
how long does it take to drive from PORTSMOUTH to caribou? from PORTSMOUTH to the great north woods gate? from PORTSMOUTH to st. agatha? from Eastport to Farmington?
I think even a child can see my point.
Area and density of population dictate the equation of cost!

[Dirtman 1]

7. Some Data for information

Here is some actual data to use if your want to try to compare apples and apples between Maine and New Hampshire

New Hampshire has less roads but spends more than Maine in total, with less from the Feds.
Here are the round numbers for 2006-2007:
NH total highway $616,756,992 Fed Money $186,695,560 Employees 1360
Maine total $586,543,322 Fed Money $204,629,239 Employees 2300

Total miles of Roads: Maine=22,600 *New Hampshire=17,000 (not as big a difference as what one would think)
Miles of State Roads Maine=8,300 *New Hampshire=4,800 (big difference here)
Miles of Local Roads Maine=13,900 *New hampshire=12,200 (nearly equal - these are the roads maintained by local towns)
Miles of Turnpike Rds Maine=111 *New Hampshire=35 (no surprise here)
I rounded these off as they change every year. These were from the 20 year plans for each state.
Note: Maine DOT does not provide any funding support for local roads, but it appears NH has some form of assistance for local roads, but I coudn't find how much.

Given this is it any wonder why Maine roads are in such bad shape?

[luckyleftyme2]

8. very good

this could be true if you don't factor the govt percentage of matching funds.federal funds are much higher for federal highways than state roads. and since N.H. has been doing major repairs to rte 101(and this was long over due) AND MAINE HASN'T DONE ANY THING FOR AN EAST WEST CONNECTOR!
SO YOUR STILL COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES AND COMING UP WITH PEARS.
now to re-connect to my original post; I stated that in the fifties the majority of their engineering was done by consultants.But over the years this changed because privation always drives up cost.
And if you check out who was responsible for tapping the highway fund,and under funding
the retirement system that got us in this mess you will probably find members of both parties got us here.
think about it,regan was the biggest spender to come down the pike.and we never recovered as a state from his underfunding to the states.

[mainer]

9. New Hampshire has more wealth to begin with

I drove through there recently, east to west, and was amazed by how every house was well kept, the properties were immaculate, and the wealth of the populace was evident. Maine has always had a great deal of poverty. We are part of the Appalachians, after all, and we have a large number of medically uninsured. Being way up at the corner of the country, we also don't have as many industries or businesses as NH does. If you drive across the border west to east, you can see immediately that Maine is a poorer state, just by the apperance of the homes.

That said, Maine's taxes are, I'm afraid, driving quite a bit of wealth away -- I can think of several families I know of who fled to NH just to escape Maine income taxes.

[luckyleftyme2]

10. the tax shift

not once have I seen a conservative say anything about the tax shift from business to the private sector.
Instead we hear only how high business is taxed. the fact is that many businesses pay less taxes than the average home owner.
Yes maine is and has been poor,many times we hear this yet our wages are on the lowest scale in the country. AND SINCE 1950 THAT I KNOW OF THOUSANDS OF OUR YOUTH HAVE LEFT THIS STATE TO MAKE A LIVING.
A GOOD EXAMPLE OF POLITICS IN MAINE IS LET THE INTERNATIONAL WATER COMPANIES ROB OUR NATURAL RESOURCES BLIND WHILE TAX THE HELL OUT OF PENN NATIONAL BECAUSE THEY ARE RETURNING MONEY TO THE STATE AS WELL AS THE COMMUNITY THEY DO BUSINESS IN.
TO ME THIS IS WRONG,AND DINOSAUR THINKING. IN JUNE I WILL TAKE MY EGG MONEY TO
FOXWOODS. THIS IS MY WAY OF PROTESTING TO MY LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE,AND BELIEVE ME HE WILL KNOW THE REASON WHY.
SOME PEOPLE ARE AGAINST GAMBLING,THATS FINE. SOME PEOPLE SMOKE,DRINK,EAT OUT ALL THE TIME,GO TO FLORIDA ETC. WHAT I'M SAYING IS WE NEED TO GROW OUR CHOICES AND GOOD THINGS WILL FOLLOW.
OTHER STATES THRIVE ON TOURISM WHY DO WE KILL IT! LOOK AT HOW AROOSTOOK IS INCREASING ITS SNOWMOBILE VACATIONS. I MEAN LETS WAKE UP!

[MaineDem]

11. I think hell must be cooling...

"LET THE INTERNATIONAL WATER COMPANIES ROB OUR NATURAL RESOURCES BLIND WHILE TAX THE HELL OUT OF PENN NATIONAL"

Lucky, I agree with you! :)

[luckyleftyme2]

12. how can we stop it

how can we stop the raping of our natural resources? look at our forests and the clear cutting of the 70's and 80's -how did this help maine? it didn't our paper companies are folding. and the reason is marketable wood.
so if we have no control or compensation for our water the out come will be the same
the industry leaves and the state is high and dry!