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George
Lundquist
George Lundquist is founder of
Retire in Costa Rica on Social
Security
(RCSS) and your Guide!
If you are thinking of retiring in Costa Rica, my goal is to share my experiences here
with you to save you time and money! Write to George at gl |
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Sunday 18 May 2003
I had totally
forgotten the fact that property taxes here are not
billed in any way. You are expected to go to the
Municipality sometime in January and pay them. I had
read there are penalties for failure to pay on time.
So, I went to the
Municipality offices immediately and introduced
myself. There was no line and a very nice lady asked
where I lived and quickly found my papers. She said
I would have to bring the plans in for some reason
unclear to me. Luckily, the couple who built and
sold the house to us, left a set of blueprints which
were kind of like the house. I also had the drawings
I had used to get the permit to add the 400 sq ft
Mirador above the house. Now I was not only
concerned about the penalties, but the addition
would certainly add to my taxes. The house is now 3
floors tall with a one bedroom/ one bath apartment
on the first floor, two bedrooms and a bath on the
second floor and the new Mirador on the third floor.
See photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/glundquist
When I returned she
glanced at the drawings and filled out a little form
which was my Invoice for my 2003 property taxes.
There were no penalties and no change from the 2002
amount. The total
for the year, which includes garbage collection
and all of my taxes except sales tax, is 12,500
Colones. At today’s exchange rate that is
$31.89.
I read Joe Stuart’s
column every Friday in the AM Costa Rica
e-newspaper. Her article last Friday compared the
exact cost of several fruits and vegetables
purchased here to the exact items purchased in a
California market. She spent $8.75 and the same
items in California cost $29.47.
I just paid the first
electric bill for my Mirador and hot tub. I had a
separate meter installed for them so I could track
the costs exactly. I run the hot tub at 104 F 24
hours per day, 7 days per week, so I can use it
whenever I want. It is electrically heated and has
two 4 HP pumps. I was a little concerned about the
cost of the electricity, but not to worry. The total
for the month was 2,110 Colones, which is $5.56.
I have two phone
lines. One is for Fax and computer the other is for
phone. We do not call the USA very much so our total
month phone bill (basic charge, taxes, and long
distance) was 8,480 Colones, $21.68. We live where neither cable internet nor DSL are available
so the second line has the internet usage and basic
phone charges on it. I use the internet about 2
hours per day for a cost of 15,745 Colones, $40.26.
I also have to pay for the RACSA connection which is
a flat $15 per month.
I keep reading how
expensive it is to live in Costa Rica. ALL of these
complainers are living in the Central Valley and
most in the Expat areas where it IS MORE EXPENSIVE
AND LESS SECURE.
I do not believe there is a better place in
the world as far as CLIMATE, SECURITY, FRIENDLY,
PROUD PEOPLE, AND LOW COST OF LIVING than in Rural
Costa Rica.
What
a country!!!
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