(MOOTE POINTE, NY) -- At last, some sense from the New York State Legislature, or at least its leadership. It’s approved a budget proposal. And not only was it on time, but it takes a giant step toward reducing taxes.
If you buy a yacht here in Moote Pointe, you will have to pay the sales tax only on the first $230,000. That’s a mere $19,837.50 at the current 8.625%. The rate’s a little lower in Westchester and a little higher in New York City. But with a bargain like this, who’s counting?
The yacht industry (I’ll bet you didn’t know there’s a yacht industry) is cheering this as a great step toward boosting employment and the economy. Oh, sure. You can see the “now hiring” signs popping up at every marina in the state. You can hear the production lines revving up at all the manufacturers.
The proposed budget line doesn’t quite define “yacht.” But if you have to ask, you can’t afford one.
The Wessays™ Research Team did a little … um … research. What it found was that most dealerships in the Metropolitan Moote Pointe area do not post prices on the internet and if visited are as foggy about them as an August morning at the beach.
Boats -- especially big ones -- have window stickers like cars at a dealership. And like the car stickers, these mean little. But the negotiations are much more genteel. After all, we’re talking boats as big -- and as expensive -- as houses.
But while few dealers list prices, some actually do. And the Team found prices from the mid five figures to the low sevens. Depends on whether the boats are new or used, how big, how luxurious and how seaworthy.
If you see one advertised as being agreeable to “your crew” you’d better have a crew if you intend to buy it. You go for something 70 feet long that sleeps ten, you aren’t going to run it yourself, chances are.
But if they can cap the sales tax on boats, why not cap the transfer tax on houses? The average price of a single family home in Moote Pointe is $465,000. The transfer tax is one percent.
If they capped the taxable amount at $230,000, they’d really create some action… and some jobs.
Shrapnel (Back Home Again in Indiana Edition):
--Time to test the new freedom of religion law in Indiana. The governor says it’s not a license to discriminate. Let’s send a few good friends to Terre Haute, tell them to walk into an eatery holding hands and see if they get seated.
--Even the fossils at the NCAA don’t like the law. They took time out from their main job, crippling division one athletic teams to say so. “Not conducive to the goals of higher education,” is more or less how they put it.
--Even the ultra conservatives at Indianapolis-headquartered Angie’s List don’t like it. They’ve halted plans to expand their headquarters there. Maybe they’ll even create a new category “states in which to not live.”
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2015
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