Yelps of tax-induced pain come from ordinary folks

The Indianapolis Star ^ | August 14, 2003 | Tim Swarens

[wabash]

The backlash against homeowners who are raising a fuss over extraordinary increases in their property taxes is as misguided as it is predictable.

Arguments from the increasingly vocal "stop whining and pay up" contingent have fallen into two categories. One, "rich" homeowners from Indianapolis' high-end neighborhoods can afford to pay a few thousand dollars more a year in taxes. Two, they weren't paying their fair share to begin with.

[wabash]

If they would have listened to Rep. Jim Buck several years ago and eliminated property tax (as his plan did), none of this would have ever happened.

[jigsaw]

What they fear is that the government is now forcing them to cash in equity and move long before they're ready.

What they fear is that the liberal politicians they elected are now forcing them to cash in equity and move long before they're ready.

[Question_Assumptions]

I assume that this is caused by school budgets like it is in New Jersey or, because this is an urban area, is this also being caused by other services?

[kevkrom]

Even in wacko-liberal Montgomery County, Maryland where I live, property tax increases are limited to no more than 10% per year no matter how much the assessment goes up.

Of course, I personally loathe property taxes -- it means that you never truly own anything, since failure to pay a regular fee (why not just call it rent?) to the government will cause it to be taken away from you. In this respect, we're no better than serfs paying tribute to our liege-lords.

[wabash]

The State Supreme Court order that property taxes be based on "Fair-Market" value and thus all properties had to be reassessed. This was about 10 years ago. The legislator and the Governor finally got around to doing it, and taxes are skyrocketing. While some do have lower property taxes, most have at least a small if not huge increase.

About the same time as this ruling conservative State Rep. Jim Buck came up with a plan to eliminate property tax. It didn't fly.

In additional note, property taxes help pay for schools.

[BlessedByLiberty]

This is the situation that we faced in the 70's in California - which is what spawned Proposition 13. What they do not tell you is that assessors begin to inflate values beyond demand to beef up the coffers.

We had a retired neighbor two years before qualifying for social security who had to go to work to pay her property taxes. She was one of the first to sign the Prop 13 initiative in our area. Ironically she was a stalwart union member - liberal Dem and voted for every one of the people who continually tried to defeat Prop 13. She never understood the connection.

[Question_Assumptions]

Normally, when they reassess, don't they recalibrate the tax rate to match needed revenue or did local governments use this as a way to simply collect more taxes than they needed before?

[wabash]

If I understand it correctly (which I may not, but I believe I am correct), they put an assessed value on the land, then, depending on which school district, lib district, etc, they send you a bill. So two people with the same property value could pay very different amounts. If one lives in a wise caring school cooperation that is frugal they will not pay as much. If a person lives in a wasteful corrupt district that spends 54 million in bonds on a new middle school that they don't need and give their teachers a big raise every year for keeping the school board members in office, like my old school district, they will pay a bunch.