Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 10/31/2005 5:18:40 PM PST by GeorgiaDawg32
The one-room cabin David Bischoff built in a cow pasture three years ago has no electricity, no running water, no phone service and no driveway. What it does have is a wide-open view of nearby hills and distant mountains _ which makes it seven times more valuable than if it had no view, according to the latest townwide property assessment. He expects his property taxes to shoot up accordingly.
Bischoff and other Orford residents bitterly call that a "view tax," and they are leading a revolt against it that has gained support in many rural towns in New Hampshire.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Houses in Netherlands used to have a "window tax" so they built very few windows into the houses.
Well property taxes are based on property values... just like seaside property is worth more, I can see how some mountain property is worth more.
They will lose. My oceanfront home was hit with a "view tax" ten years ago. When we won, the city had to refund all monies for 3 years, and pay our legal fees.
I'm sure the property is already assessed based on location like any other land.
If you cut down the trees next to your house and then suddenly have a "view" it shouldn't change your tax rate.
Floridas save our home ammendment looks better and better everyday
F'em in Orford. 236 Rats voted for Kerry, 71 for Bush in 2004. These rural tax-maggots have been putting the squeeze on the more affluent portion of the state, trying to increase our taxes in Bush country to improve the schools in thier 1 horse towns.
Wow
The native types have long since been squashed by the flatlanders and the academic sexual intellectuals from nearby Dartmouth. Check out the vote tally in Lyme, which is the next town to the south and right next to Hanover (Dartmouth).
What if the owner is blind?
"What if the owner is blind?"
For fairness there ought to be all kinds of exceptions to taxes - like if the person is elderly and has lived in the area since before the land became valuable... there are limits to how much that can be done...
The pumpkin and Christmas tree farm we go to every October and December is now surrounded by trendy subdivisions - that family has been farming there since the the war of Northern Aggression and I dread the day they can no longer stay there.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
You should also know that this Steve Taylor, commissioner of agriculture, also happens to be a Democrat who would no doubt rejoice if the state became like all its neighbors and had a sales tax and an income tax. Might as well throw in a bottle bill, too, and then we'd be just as effed up as all those around us.
Rights,farms,environment ping.
Good to see you back, amigo. I hope you don't take off. But I'll certainly understand if you do. Just let us know where.
This is a commie sob story pushing for a state income tax. The tax on undeveloped property is much lower in NH than in Mass.
If I read the tax law correctly, because he is blind he is paying nada for taxes, age and veterans status are other exemptions, this story is BS.
When we left CA for TX, we thought views were of great value. When we found a house in Austin with a great view, we gladly plunked down the owners asking price. Later we discovered that Texans place about a $3000 value on a view. We paid a lot more, trust me.
The value of a view is not a bad thing to use for a tax as long as there is a way to measure it. If, for example our owner could build a turn out and charge money for the view then the view would have commercial value. If he cannot, then its commercial value is pretty low. If the tax assessor gets to establish the view potential, which seems to be the case here, what is to prevent him from raising the assessment anywhere he wants? This tax cries out for some justice. Where is a good judge when you need him?
Well I was just shocked that the rural counties voted for Kerry while the Taxachusetts border and lake counties voted for Bush. The whole border with Vermont was 'Rat blue, while 2 out of 3 counties bordering Taxachusetts voted Bush. The escapees from Taxachusetts are not the main problem, but the college students and faculty in Keene, Hanover, Durham, etc help poison the well.
I really like NH, and I'm glad most of my property taxes stay local, and I resent the rural counties wanting equivalent benefits without paying taxes. They've been pushing to pick our pockets on the coast, so let their tax assessment reflect what they need to for taxes to pay for the services they want.
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