Posted on 05/14/2007 6:13:57 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s
When Melissa Nolen first saw the sky-high property tax bill for her new home, she got nervous.
The next year, when her homeowner's insurance doubled, she got mad.
These days, 29-year-old Nolen is trying another tactic: Getting active. She recently became vice president of the Broward County Young Republicans and is keeping a close eye on tax reforms being debated at the state Capitol.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Both of you are missing the point here. The government is confiscating people’s money. Worse, they are confiscating a lot more from some than others for no reason other than the date on which they bought their home.
You’re buying into it because you feel superior to some of the victims for one reason or another. Who knows, maybe you are. So what?
If you do not pay your property taxes they take your home. Period.
Black, white, rich, poor, smart, dumb, frugal or spend thrift; none of these attributes entitles the government to confiscate more money from you than someone else.
When ever we have a thread such as this, I am positively amazed at the number of posters that don’t give a hoot what unconstitutional inequities the government imposes upon those they don’t like. No, they actually seem to like it. “He’s a dumb ass, so what if the feds take his property because a rare hairbrained tit mouse was found near it.”
You bring up an excellent example. My mother wants to “trade down” now herself. She can’t. She considered moving here to Kentucky for that reason.
When we wanted out of the neighborhood in Florida our friends asked why we didn’t just move farther out from the city. I said we are not paying $75k more for the same size house and 3 times the property taxs to boot. Time to get out of the state.
At least we don’t live in one of the European socialist paradises where we have to get permission and on a waiting list in order to relocate.
That would be 2.
More than anything else, the thing about amending Florida’s constitution that bugs me the most is how it can be amended for any purpose. Pig farms and turtle nets are not constitutional issues. Neither are classroom sizes.
Ours was just over $12,000 in NJ. And that's on top of Federal and State Income taxes.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
They did it during the “Bush41” recession. Lowered the assessment, jacked the mil rate so taxes remained the same.
Problem is, neither party really cares about controlling spending. You have to do that before you have real tax reform.
Here in NH, we have no sales or income tax but the majority of funds comes from the backs of homeowners paying outrageous property taxes (I’m paying over 5K a year).
If you want to see where it would lead if they passed a broad-based income/sales tax, look at Maine. Highest local/state tax burden in the nation.
hmm..
fire .... the first fire companies were private. And out here where I am it’s all voluntary work. Whats wrong with that?
police .... yes , I agree .... someone has to fill out the paper work after a crime is committed. But it seems like revenue collection is the main job sometimes.
Sewer .... all this does is subsidize developers so they can have higher density housing. This should be done with private money, those who use it pay. there are plenty of examples of this.
streets ... again .. subsidy for developers. Developers build a road that serves their development. Then the government picks up all future maintenance. Thats ridiculous. IF the road goes somewhere ... fine. But most of the new roads being built today are basically just drive ways that serve the houses on them. School buses shouldn’t even go down them. And yes there are plenty of example of private roads , maintained by the users.
lighting ... your kidding right ?
parks ... and Nintendo for everyone. So you don’t think a private entrepreneur could make a buck opening a park and providing recreation? ... Does that mean that there aren't enough people willing to pay for something like that ?
school construction ... public schools should be seen for what they are. public schools , public housing , public assistance. Every effort should be made to get kids out of public schools. Would it be a generous goal to get everyone to live in public housing?
Public schools are a safety net for those who have little opportunity. ...
now ... what are those necessary expenses again?
Of course we see the point. We are conservatives.
I preach tax reform to anyone that will listen. Taxes are slavery. Whenever anyone tells me about the “new civic center” or library tax, I always say, “Think of it this way. What do you pay taxes on that is worth that you will lose everything you own and in some cases go to jail if you don’t pay?”
But we are discussing the situation as it is currently, not as we would wish it to be.
It is difficult to even comprehend the ridiculousness of what you are espousing for a modern urban environment. The only thing that comes to mind envisioning your utopia is utter chaos.
You can bet your Bippy the taxes wont be coming down.
Its like an old lawn mower motor, Once it gets so you have to start it with ether ,it wont start any other way.
They get used to an amount coming in they are like Junkies, they gotta have it and more.
It would be equally unfair to keep induce foreclosures by raising the taxes on existing homes in step with bubble-driven increases in assessed valuation after purchase. For his reason Florida implemented the same system that California enacted some years ago: taxes are are marked up the current market value only when a home is sold; thereafter, yearly increased are held to a small fixed percentage.
f what you are espousing
so you are a socialist?
It would make much more sense, IMO, to base taxes on something more closely related to the actual burden the property places on the city's resources. Taxing by land area, number of residents, or some combination of the two would make more sense, IMO. Apartments and trailer parks and their residents, for example, place a disproportionately high burden on the police force of a city when compared to single-family, permanent homes and their residents.
Unfortunately, we in America have become accustomed to the idea that only "progressive" taxation is "fair"--the "rich" are supposed pay more than the "poor"--so there's always infuriated screeching when other approaches are raised.
I knew from your first post I was dealing with a third grade mentality. I seriously over estimated you.
“I live in St. mary’s County Maryland,and my Tax Assessment doubled this year. They didnt raise the taxes mind you, they just doubled the Assessment. It amounts to the same thing though doesnt it? Just another slick move.”
No, it doesn’t.
In Maryland, no matter how high your assessment goes up, your property tax on your resident can’t go up by more than 10% in each three-year cycle. In my county, Anne Arundel, my property tax bill shows what I would be paying if I were paying on the entire assessed amount, and then shows a “homestead credit” for the amount above what they may legally tax me.
Only when someone buys my house from me will the property tax be assessed on the entire assessed value of the house.
This is what results in a two-tiered property tax system, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable. It protects folks who move into a neighborhood from being forced out because of rising property taxes. At the same time, if the new folks who buy at higher prices can afford the homes at the higher prices, they can afford the higher taxes, too.
sitetest
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Unfortunately, isn't that what drives city councils to abuse eminent domain? Won't they try to "blight" your home to get you out so they can reappraise the land and have someone else pay the higher taxes?
-PJ
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