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Don't bring Prop. 13 here
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Having lived in California, I found Proposition 13 to be incredibly unfair.
FREE MARKET: Prop 13 also impedes the free market from operating by having gov't tax policy influence whether people sell. Bad idea.
FRAUD: If a buyer knows she'll be taxed on her individual "sales price," then she will have an incentive to hide the real value of the transaction. People will seek concessions in closing costs, repairs, financing and a host of other methods to make the sales price look as small as possible. In the end, that just shifts the tax burden to all other people.
An acquisition based system is also unfair because people who stay in the same house forever never get a property tax increase. This can discourage people from buying new homes too.
We need a hybrid system that creates predictability and evens out the tax burden. The best solution I've heard proposed so far is to change to an acquisition based system for predictability and then increase property taxes slowly at a rate equal to the inflation of housing prices in a specific area. I think that's what we should do for predictability and fairness.
I am sick to death of hearing stupid comments like your closing words. When the school raises fees and taxes, "it barely amounts to a pizza and a bottle of soda." When the city shoves recycling down our throats in the middle of the night, its no big deal because "its less than the cost of a night at the movies for two."
When the forest service doubles recreation tax fees, its no big deal "because gas costs $4 so if you can get there, you should be able to afford $6 more dollars."
We are not talking Big Gulps here. We are talking about the city randomly assigning a value to a house, and taxing the life out of the people just because they can. My income is limited, and not great. They tripled the value of my house, and so no more movies, no more big gulps, no more pizza and soda and I am dam tired of it.
People who keep excusing tax increases as "no more than a pack of gum" ought to consider just how many packs of gum do you have to give up,just to have a house
People like you and me want a small government that doesn't interfere with our lives. Just give us roads, utilities, schools, and law enforcement and let the free market take care of the rest.
I've always wondered why government can't downsize a little here and there and show us that they are trying to operate within the budget that our taxes provide. Instead, they come up with all these new programs and things that require increased taxation. I say "ENOUGH".
Also, cities do NOT "randomly assign a value to a house," and they DO need money to provide services that we all yell and scream for. With the rights attached to being a homeowner in a civilized country come responsibilities, like contributing to the well-being of the community. If you don't believe that, you should be living in a hut somewhere in the woods.
I am all for lower taxes, but making the property valuation not be even and the same for all properties in an area with the same size, shape, age, etc. is the worst idea I have heard.
If my house if valued at $150,000 and the family across the street is valued at $40,000 because they have been there 20 years, that is a bunch of crock.
I know, lower everyone's taxes, but don't mess with property values, unless they can be more accurate.
Actually property valuations in the free market vary tremendously - look at the stock market daily or gas prices or gasp real estate prices! With Prop 13, you are not forced to pay more than a predictable amount that you know you can afford. If an Arab millionaire pays $600K for the house next door to you and you paid $100K for yours 10 years ago, under Prop 13 your property tax does not change due to big spenders throwing around money. Simple and predictable - that's why politicians and government taxeaters hate it and homeowners love it!
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