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Young homeowners outraged by high property tax bills (Florida's two tiered tax system)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | May 13 2007 | By Jamie Malernee

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 ...


TOPICS: Government; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: florida; genx; taxes
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To: I still care; dawn53

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.”


81 posted on 05/15/2007 5:37:54 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s......you weren't really there)
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To: meyer

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.


82 posted on 05/15/2007 5:45:38 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s......you weren't really there)
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To: owhl

That would be 2.


83 posted on 05/15/2007 5:48:27 AM PDT by Armed Civilian ("Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.")
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To: ExSES

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.


84 posted on 05/15/2007 5:48:29 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s......you weren't really there)
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To: ChildOfThe60s
Only $2800 a year in property taxes. I'll take that deal.

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)

85 posted on 05/15/2007 5:49:28 AM PDT by LonePalm (Commander and Chef)
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To: sgtbono2002

They did it during the “Bush41” recession. Lowered the assessment, jacked the mil rate so taxes remained the same.


86 posted on 05/15/2007 6:05:07 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: driftdiver

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.


87 posted on 05/15/2007 6:10:38 AM PDT by OCCASparky (Steely-Eyed Killer of the Deep)
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To: Michael.SF.
ry: Fire, police, sewer, streets, lighting, parks, school construction.

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?

88 posted on 05/15/2007 6:23:02 AM PDT by THEUPMAN (####### comment deleted by moderator)
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To: ChildOfThe60s

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.


89 posted on 05/15/2007 8:08:42 AM PDT by I still care ("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
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To: THEUPMAN

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.


90 posted on 05/15/2007 8:10:00 AM PDT by Michael.SF. ("The military Mission has long since been accomplished" -- Harry Reid, April 23, 2007)
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To: metesky

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.


91 posted on 05/15/2007 8:21:32 AM PDT by sgtbono2002 (I will forgive Jane Fonda, when the Jews forgive Hitler.)
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To: ChildOfThe60s
Because the homeowners that are paying 1/4 the property taxes that newer home owners are paying would never vote to raise their own taxes by a factor of at least 2.

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.

92 posted on 05/15/2007 10:23:50 AM PDT by BlazingArizona
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To: Michael.SF.

f what you are espousing

so you are a socialist?


93 posted on 05/15/2007 12:31:29 PM PDT by THEUPMAN (####### comment deleted by moderator)
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To: ChildOfThe60s
Property taxes should be tied to something other than the assessed value of the property, as that varies due to entirely different influences than tax revenue needs do.

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.

94 posted on 05/15/2007 12:40:32 PM PDT by TChris (The Democrat Party: A sewer into which is emptied treason, inhumanity and barbarism - O. Morton)
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To: THEUPMAN
ROFLOL.

I knew from your first post I was dealing with a third grade mentality. I seriously over estimated you.

95 posted on 05/15/2007 12:43:43 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("The military Mission has long since been accomplished" -- Harry Reid, April 23, 2007)
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To: ChildOfThe60s
Just curious, what happens when you build an addition to your house? Does that allow the County to re-access your house at current market prices?
96 posted on 05/15/2007 12:46:02 PM PDT by az_illini (Why? Why? Why are there no flying cars? We were promised flying cars.)
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To: sgtbono2002
Dear sgtbono2002,

“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

97 posted on 05/15/2007 12:48:12 PM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: qam1; ItsOurTimeNow; PresbyRev; Fraulein; StoneColdGOP; Clemenza; m18436572; InShanghai; xrp; ...
Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

98 posted on 05/15/2007 12:49:26 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: VeniVidiVici
These people are paying the same if not less in property tax than their previous out of Florida house. Do they even consider what they save in income tax?

Um, many of them were born and raised in Florida (see the comment about people's parents in the article) and are trying to move from renting to owning. But the "I got mine" people who bought when values were low and still have low taxes are happy to cut these people off at the knees and make it that much harder for them to buy.
99 posted on 05/15/2007 12:55:24 PM PDT by HostileTerritory
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To: LetsRok
If a house goes up in value, the taxes should NOT be increased if the owner is not selling.

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

100 posted on 05/15/2007 12:55:26 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (It's still not safe to vote Democrat.)
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