unwanted single family homes that are key to funding municipalities (via property taxes)
Take me for example: I worked all of my life and was responsible enough to have all that I own paid for, that is...except my house and property...for that belongs to the local government even though it is paid off.
As I progressed through life I took measures to ensure that I would have enough to live on (I’m 70 but not retired) and the most important thing was to have a paid place to live out the rest of my life.
With each that went by my property taxes rose and this year I paid in excess of $5,000 in property tax (not to mention income taxes) for public services I did not use. What services were they? The public schools.
That property tax has become such a massive waste due to the local school systems becoming the most beautiful campuses and prides of the city. We also have amazingly beautiful (and large) buildings and stadiums to hold non-educational venues such as sports. Our government buildings are places of awe and cannot be compared to the Crystal City of Oz.
Now, to the crux of the problem: Generally, public education is for a period of 12 years. During this period each family is actually responsible for 12 years per child to pay while that child is using the government services...school and that would be proper...but it isn’t! You pay that tax for the rest of your life, even if you rent, lease or own property. Don’t pay the tax and you will soon see who really owns your property.
Don’t get me wrong for we need to pay for basic public services such as road maintenance, sewer etc... for the good of the community, which by the way, actually uses these services on a daily basis.
The thing that galls me so much is that I went to a school down here in hot south Texas back in the 50’s that had no air conditioning and only hot water heat. We sweated and we froze but we got an education that is now on par with a standard college graduate today or better.
It is standard practice that when property taxes have not been paid and the property is taken for taxes, an auction is held and the property sold. The local government has all back taxes paid from the sale and the profit left is paid back to the owner. In that manner (in theory) the taxing entity loses no money. However, if the property can’t be sold at auction (which in the past has been extremely rare) the taxing entity is now saddled with the responsibility of owning property they can’t sell and the maintenance of the property grounds or demolition become additional costs to the local government...which will eventually be paid by the taxpayer.
There should be a new regulation (or statute) added to each state’s constitution that forbids all functions of local government to be funded by the actual use of services by each individual being taxes. No use of services-—no tax. Use the services and you get taxed.
In that manner when you retire you won’t be saddled with the most expensive tax...the property tax to pay the school district and would be able to live in the property you held as your security in later life.
The out of control local taxes for our school systems only allows out of control spending on everything other than teaching a real basic education and vocational education. Today’s taxes are squandered on new-age education that is absolutely useless along with beautiful sports facilities and buildings and out of control salaries to teachers and administrators.
The time has come to “pay the piper” for the property tax scam is robbing us older folks of the future and security we have worked all of our life for while the newer generation is totally oblivious to what will happen when they reach retirement age.
Use the service...pay for the service. Don’t use the service...don’t pay for the service. Anything different is pure socialism!
Here in NJ they’ve tried (unsuccessfully) to compromise with property tax freezes for retirees; the main problem is that even frozen, the taxes are very high. Our schools are not nice (physically/structurally) or very good (in terms of results); the funds go directly to teachers paid ridiculously high salaries for what is really a part-time job (they don’t work 8 hour days, they get lunch breaks like anyone else, and they literally work less than half the days in any given year). A friend described the way to look at property taxes here: View it as tuition, and when the kids are out of the system you sell your home and move. Good advice, but it ends up as a pyramid scheme that always needs new homebuyers coming in at the bottom - and now we’ve reached the point where there are not enough (since most Americans in NJ don’t breed, or move to other states to do so). I’ve posted on other threads about the rise of communism in this country that we have basically pitted taxpaying Americans (who increasingly have no genetic future) against breeding people with no economic (and therefore taxable) future.
To prevent the flight of older Americans, some places have “adult communities” (must be 55 or older, for example, and no kids); this is to spare the residents the school costs. Illegal apartments have become an epidemic, as homeowners with empty nests divide houses built decades ago for large single families into 2- or 3- family homes (often to deal with their staggering property tax bills). Many of the jobs that would allow average people to buy the homes (and pay those taxes) have left the NYC metro area forever, the low-wage jobs that remain would force you into a small apartment with several roommates - having a family isn’t even an option at those income levels.
I understand your complaint about robbing older folks of their future and security, but younger people begrudge older folks the taxes from their checks to provide SS income for older folks that they themselves are being warned will not be available for them.
As far as “use the service, pay for the service”, that went out the window when the floodgates were opened at the border for masses of people who have no means of paying for anything on their own; in fact, it went out the window when services were provided in welfarian urban areas that weren’t taxed at all - for anything.
In NJ and across the country, the borders are open because the government has decided that we need someone to buy (or at least live in) these homes - the Section 8 rent payments to a property owner will at least keep the property tax funding in place (and it can be subsidized by all 50 states at that point). The teachers want it because they need “customers” (or they’d be working as Wal-Mart greeters, with little skills to do anything else); those Section 8 payments end up in their pockets (especially in NJ, where our school infrastructure is crumbling).