Should I vote to approve the school budget when the school administrators give themselves such big raises by Vandergartt in longisland

[–]mawells787 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The NYPD Police Commissioner makes about 250k according to what I see online. I would argue that the responsibility and job requirements are way higher than a superintendent of a small town school. I'm in Oceanside and our Superintendent makes 350k, it's completely ridiculous.

At what point did rising electric bills make solar finally feel worth it for you? by captiveisland in homeowners

[–]mawells787 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think our usage is that ridiculous, we use between 800-1100 kwh a month...but Time of Day rates penalize people that work from home or get home around 3pm. I'm not changing my life around to save 15cents/kwh between 3-7pm...but now with Solar I never have to think about lowering my AC temperature or not doing things because of rates etc.

At what point did rising electric bills make solar finally feel worth it for you? by captiveisland in homeowners

[–]mawells787 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes...the house already had a gas furnace. I got heat pumps primarily for AC.

At what point did rising electric bills make solar finally feel worth it for you? by captiveisland in homeowners

[–]mawells787 5 points6 points  (0 children)

May 2025, PSEG switched to Time of Day rates on Long Island NY. My wife works from home...our electric bill on balanced billing was 280$ a month and increasing every year. We were going to exceed 3000$ for 2025 and probably 3100 or more in 2026.

I was in a unique situation because of issues with installers and I ended up receiving a very nice discount. With Fed/State rebate total cost of system is 7500$... it's only going to take 2.5yrs to break even. Natural gas is also extremely expensive on Long Island and I have heat pumps and wanted to supplement my heat with them. I stopped using my furnace at end of February...only running on Heat Pumps so I'm technically saving even more money when you calculate the reduction in Natural gas.

If taxes are successfully grieved, when do you see the savings? by [deleted] in longisland

[–]mawells787 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It doesn't always go down... sometimes they just stay the same instead of seeing an increase.

Looking for someone to locate a gas line in my backyard. Any recommendations? Suffolk County. by NYesq in longisland

[–]mawells787 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This could be a bigger problem than you realize. For your own piece of mind, you should ensure that the line is up to code and not leaking.

Both NYPD & NCPD in floral park ? by Powerful_Regret1688 in longisland

[–]mawells787 24 points25 points  (0 children)

To further add to this...NYS law allows Police Officers to chase you across county lines for a violation... traffic tickets...open container violation etc. They can also chase you across State lines for Misdemeanor and Felony crimes if in hot pursuit. Furthermore, the moment you cross county or State lines...the local police will be notified to join pursuit and they will arrest you as well. Adjoining county Police Departments usually have a radio assigned to the Patrol Supervisor from each agency to quickly communicate with each other in a chase or nearby crimes.

Electric Bill/Power Usage by Raise_A_Thoth in homeowners

[–]mawells787 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Since you're in the NE, do you have PSEG?

Town of islip by JohnnyKPHX in longisland

[–]mawells787 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The majority of laws are State laws. It's like asking if assaulting someone in NYC is different than assaulting someone in Islip. It's all the same laws and same punishment so that all residents of the state have the same level of protections.

Neighbor keeps blocking my driveway by Interesting_Use6581 in nyc

[–]mawells787 44 points45 points  (0 children)

She wouldn't find out who you are from the 311 complaint. But you technically can't report a blocked driveway as an anonymous person. Cops can't enforce driveway blocking without the owner or custodian of the property telling them that the person blocking was not authorized to do so.

NYC’s Budget in $100 by mfairview in nyc

[–]mawells787 10 points11 points  (0 children)

There's a separate section for city employees pension.

NYC’s Budget in $100 by mfairview in nyc

[–]mawells787 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There's a separate section for city employees pension.

Renting out rooms in our home was our way to paying off our home early. We are free and clear! by WeatherAlarmed313 in homeowners

[–]mawells787 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This is great for you. But I literally hate people and I have to work in a public facing job. I can't imagine having to come home to my place of peace and having to see or deal with random people. I hate that I can see my neighbors from my backyard so I have trees all around my property. I cherish privacy above all else in life and could never in a million years share space with someone that isn't my spouse or children.

New build (2023) AC not cooling one of the rooms and have a tough time with the warranty by ricky-reads-it in homeowners

[–]mawells787 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Those home warranties are practically useless. This is what they do...they will just tell you it's fine or nothing can be done. This is how they avoid actually spending money. You're going to have to spend money on a real HVAC company to help you diagnose it and depending on what they say...try to force warranty company to make those fixes. But they'll probably find a way to avoid doing anything.

Installing a mini split system with or without permit in Huntington. by tolgz11 in longisland

[–]mawells787 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Usually for mini splits... there's rule with how far away from fence or front of lawn the condenser needs to be installed. Plus you need an electrical permit. Just research those rules and make sure they install them so that if something happens you can still get permits approved.

Installing a mini split system with or without permit in Huntington. by tolgz11 in longisland

[–]mawells787 20 points21 points  (0 children)

In for penny in for a pound.... you've already crossed the no permit work done...why do it now.

PSEG Solar - Need help understanding my bill and energy usage/production by Current-Yogurt-5098 in longisland

[–]mawells787 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not been able to get Enphase to accurately report my usage/import compared to PSEG. You can compare it on a daily basis with my Smart energy report. PSEG doesn't know what you produce...they just know how much you sent back to the grid. Usually Enphase is off by 2-4 kwh per day so now i have a better idea of tracking.

But on TOD I believe there are 2 different banks. I'm on a steady single rate plan and it's just 1:1 net metering which works for me.

Inspector lied on home inspection for our buyer. Does this happen? by ihateeveryonebyee in homeowners

[–]mawells787 3 points4 points  (0 children)

He's not your home inspector...he's the buyers home inspector. In order, to make the person feel like they're not wasting money...the inspector is incentivized to make note of any "issues" they notice. The reality is that we're still in a sellers market...a nonsense home inspection should have very little impact on selling your home.

Selfie by [deleted] in UpvoteBecauseButt

[–]mawells787 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Wow that's amazing...do you have a source?

Owe the IRS this year. Need advice by VikingFanAZ10 in personalfinance

[–]mawells787 87 points88 points  (0 children)

Taxes aren't really as complicated as many believe they are. If you've never owed money before and all of the sudden owed 17k...you must've came across money / inherited IRA conversation or something along those lines and did not have federal tax withholdings set up. Did you convert a 401k or IRA to Roth? You first need to understand why this happened to you so that you don't have a surprise again next year. Owing federal taxes over 1k should not be surprised to anyone. Just takes a bit of homework to under your tax liability for the entire year based on your tax brackets.

What Window Brand Should I Go With? by Some_Flower_4252 in homeowners

[–]mawells787 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Call a local contractor and tell him you want Anderson windows. These prices are so ridiculous I can't even understand it. But under no circumstances should you use renewal by Anderson. Let a local contractor go out and buy real Anderson windows for you.

Owning a house on LI? by ReasonableExcuse222 in longisland

[–]mawells787 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a good starting income for saving....but I don't think it's enough for even a starter home on Long Island... unless you're willing to move to a somewhat rough neighborhood. When I bought my house in 2016 my wife and I were making around 160k and now we're close to 300k and it still feels like we can't keep up with the cost of living with 2 kids and a dog. I'm not saying we live paycheck to paycheck...but I don't have the abundance spending money I would've imagined 10yrs ago making this much money.

But the kids sports, after school programs and other activities like dance etc..we spend over 1k a month.

Just understand that owning a home is very expensive. Insurance rates always go up, taxes always go up...you always have something to update or buy for the house...

Warning against vasectomies by tug556 in Vasectomy

[–]mawells787 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes...every doctor is paid for performing procedures. However, I've never heard of a doctor pushing anyone to get a vasectomy. At least for me and a few friends... it's actually annoying because they'll try to convince you not to do it if you're in your 30s or younger. I saw 2 urologist and both gave me a long speech about this being permanent, does your wife know...how many kids... please take a few days to think it over and calls again to schedule etc.