Melbourne, FL in Brief
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6/25/2008
Melbourne, FL is a small town of about 60,000 people, broken up into many small townships. For example, in the Melbourne area, include Melbourne, West Melbourne, Melbourne Village, unincorporated Brevard county, as well as a wealth of small seaside towns. All of these towns exist in a 25 mile radius. Each town has its own taxes and police, but the school and fire are done at the count level. Because of the small tax bases for all these small townships, the police forces are renowned for citing for speeding tickets....just look at any of the speedtrap websites for more data. As for Melbourne itself, it is a quiet retirement town with little crime and a good school system. It does not really have any high-end nightlife, and is really best suited for those who are married with childered. I really have never understood why retirees move here, as activities are quite limited. The type of retiree that does move here typically comes from New York or California, purchases a large house, and complains that they are being raked over the coals by taxes or insurance. Speaking of those topics, insurance is a mess in most coastal towns of Florida. If your plan on living near the coast, you can count on not being able to obtain private wind damage insurance; instead, you will need to go with the state pool, which is not as reliable as private, and is very expensive. For example, a small 2000 sqft house on the beach can set you back $6000 a year in wind storm insurance alone....above that, of course, you will need to purchase general insurance for fire and the like. Taxes are not too bad for Florida. There is a 6% sales tax. No income tax. Property taxes average $3000 or so for a 2000 sqft house; however, Florida recently changed the laws surrounding taxes, so be careful. Overall, Melbourne is a nice small city with small city amenities, but is in a short 1 hour ride to big city shopping. With that stated, however, after 13 years of being here, I think I am ready for a change.
Ted | West Melbourne, FL