I disagree. The cost of government will continue to grow as long as they have a ready source of income. One of the side goals of Prop 13 was to cut the funds from governements. It has not worked out as well as we could hope, but it has slowed them down.
The road in front of my home has not been improved since I moved in. I have never had to call the police or fire. I have no children in public schools, and I pay extra for trash pick up and water. I am not a burden on my local government.
I live in a small town in Central California. The population has almost doubled since I moved here. New homes (and there are a lot of them) go for 400-500 thousand dollars. Aside from that, new business have been created along the freeway that is within city limites, the city gets a share of the sales tax from these businesses.
The local government is not hurting because I only pay taxes based on the price I paid for my home twenty years ago.
On your next point, it does me no good that you had a career that went as well as yours did. I am happy that you were able to earn as much money as you could. Please feel free to donate as much extra money to the government as you wish. But your good fortune does not translate into money into my pocket.
I overcame some high hurdles to enable me to learn a skill that would pay me a modest wage. My abilities, knowledge, and opportunities were never such that I could hope to duplicate your success. That fact does not mean I should lose everything I have worked for just so the local governement can have more of my money.
No sir, fair is taxing the property for what an individual could pay at the time, not on the possibility that they may at some future date be wealthy.
Mass. foreclosures jump 300%
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1752847/posts
---------------------------------------------
Cops, firefighters, EMTs, teachers, highway maintenance workers should never get a raise? New patrol cars, fire trucks, snow plows should never be bought? Emergency services should always work with 1950s technology? Schools should never be wired? The cost of services goes up of necessity. One can choose to live in an impoverished county like some of those in the rural south where there is no tax base but formany of us that's not living.
And, yeah, I've been fortunate but in 1972 $20k a year was big money. I do not know anybody who was working then and is still working today who is not earning a significant multiple of that. I am certain that you were not getting by at 45 on the same income you had at 23.
I have no disrespect for you at all, I just disagree on your idea about real estate taxes.