Posted on 06/12/2012 12:08:38 AM PDT by quesney
BISMARCK, N.D. — Since Californians shrank their property taxes more than three decades ago by passing Proposition 13, people around the nation have echoed their dismay over such levies, putting forth plans to even them, simplify them, cap them, slash them. In an election here on Tuesday, residents of North Dakota will consider a measure that reaches far beyond any of that — one that abolishes the property tax entirely.
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Jim Wilson/The New York Times A group of Edgeley residents, including Nicole Gibson, who held a “Vote No on Measure 2” sign, gathered after the debate. “I would like to be able to know that my home, no matter what happens to my income or my life, is not going to be taken away from me because I can’t pay a tax,” said Susan Beehler, one in a group of North Dakotans who have pressed for an amendment to the state’s Constitution to end the property tax. They argue that the tax is unpredictable, inconsistent, counter to the concept of property ownership and needless in a state that, thanks in part to wildly successful oil drilling, finds itself in the rare circumstance of carrying budget reserves.
“When,” Ms. Beehler asked, “did we come to believe that government should get rich and we should get poor?”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
That's SO UNFAIR. The state is obviously in the 1% category. There should be a federal tax imposed on states that are in the black.
Then, to be FAIR, the federal tax levied against North Dakota for being rich should be re-distributed to bankrupt states like Illinois which are broke because of George Bush and being unlucky in life's lottery.
No more rich states, please. If any should become rich, the feds should seize its surplus money and spread it around to the failed states in the 99%. It's only FAIR to do so.
Leni
Time to move...
I had a friend once that was having a mortgage burning party when he finally paid off his debt.
I asked him why he was so happy. His response was “now I finally own my house.”
I told him that the house belonged to his local government, not him. I told him that there were two owners of the house. One was the government and the other was the mortgage company. Now, the mortgage company was out of the picture.
He was puzzled and I went on to explain that the REAL owner of his property was the government and further went on to find out who the real owner was, simply don’t pay your property tax and you will soon see who really owns the property.
Property owners will never own their property. We lease it from the government and pay it a fee each year for the privilege of living there.
The worst thing about this is that responsible people buy a home as part of their planning for when they get older and their income decreases but they could plan on having a paid off house to live in for the rest of their days.
Well, THAT AIN’T HAPPENING! The house they bought 30-40 years ago for $25,000 is now appraised at $175,000 to 350,000 (depending on where you live) and the taxes alone are more than the original mortgage payment.
And now, the worst part of property taxes.......normally 75% is school taxes!
Then, since you seem to enjoy and approve of property taxes, proceed with enjoying them.
One of the beaties of this nation that is composed of 50 separate nations, is that we can try different things, within a framework of basic freedomes.
I for one, applaud ND for attempting to eliminate property taxes. They are indeed a pox. A property tax steals ownership. When one owns something, it cannot be taken. Yet, a property tax does just that.
Enjoy non-ownership of your home.
Bingo. Property tax is pure slavery.
“The home has been in his family for around 40 years. Also, my daughter will never, EVER set even one single toe in a public school. Hence, why should I have pay for her education, then pay again for some stranger’s kids to go to a school where they’re likely not to learn very much - except how to hate everything I stand for? “
Another good question. Something has gone terribly wrong in the Untied States.
I’d add Walker in Wisconsin, but the problem isn’t the politicians, but the people. Indiana and Ohio and Wisconsin and so on didn’t get in trouble over a single election cycle. It takes a philosophical underpinning to preserve liberty.
Kids don’t and haven’t learned about individual rights, other than sexual deviancy, in a half century plus of government schooling. We let them be educated and entertained by liberals and fools. How do you reverse that?
Yes, you need some government and government needs some revenue. We will be taxed at some level. I don’t like property taxes and I think sales taxes are better, but they’re naturally regressive and follow the business cycle.
Ideally you need to elect small government conservatives forever. That’s the only way to keep taxes low. Low taxes are a function of low spending. That’s it.
For the elderly on a fixed income who have trouble paying property tax, after paying a lifetime of taxes, the property tax should accrue as a lien on the property.
Also, my daughter will never, EVER set even one single toe in a public school. Hence, why should I have pay for her education, then pay again for some stranger’s kids to go to a school where they’re likely not to learn very much - except how to hate everything I stand for?
**
If we just charged parents a bit for the public school of their choice, and did away with property taxes, we’d grow our economy AND improve our education system by leaps and bounds.
Nothing also gets to me more also than the uber rich parents pulling up to the “free” public school in their Lexus, or what have you.
Everyone should pay at least SOMETHING for their child’s education. This idea of a “free” education is ridiculous. Those who use it should pay - and no one else.
Yes it's inconsistent with property ownership (except for paying for the road that leads to your property).
If the government can take your property away if you don’t pay taxes on it, is it really private property after all? I don’t believe it is. In fact, I know it isn’t.
“The reason Newark, Camden, and Paterson NJ all laid off so many employees is BECAUSE we have property taxes; their residents hadn’t been paying for their services for decades, with “state aid” (our money) picking up the tab.”
There’s some sort of formula here in NJ that counties use to divert a portion of local property taxes from so called “affluent” towns to so called “poorer” ones. Our mayor once claimed that as the reason why property taxes were kept so high in my town, to make up the difference. Of course that doesn’t mean the poor towns spend their extra money wisely.
We NEVER own our homes here and it sucks!!! And you can't get more bull's eye than your assessment of public schools!
I thought it was just people who owned land. Did they actually pay property taxes back then?
Anyway, if this passes, I will seriously consider moving (((ping)))!
Property taxes are the antithesis of a free society.
50 ???,, I thought there were 57!
None of us enjoy paying high property taxes. You are lucky to live in a low tax state. I enjoy living near my family more than I hate paying taxes so unless my relatives leave the state I and many like us are stuck where we are. NJ does have its compensations despite the terribly high cost.
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