The local (probably helped by National) anti-tax groups in Arizona have filed this initiative to limit property taxes. So, what is the problem? After all, nobody likes paying property taxes. There are a couple of problems: 1. It did not help California keep property taxes under control. Instead of costs being evenly distributed, they are now heaped on new home owners. When my wife sold her house in California she was paying $1100 a quarter. I am not kidding... Her taxes were outrageous. The fact is that newly developed areas are limited in their property taxing authority, so they add other assessments and fees to make up for it. The net result is that when you buy a new house you get lots of fees that older home owners avoid. It is like rent control, great if your rent is controlled, but really sucky if it is not. 2. The California educational system was severely hurt by their property tax changes. 3. This is why we have elections. Why should someone tell me or my community the level of services that can be provided. Our system is already self-regulating. If taxes get out of control, we can defeat the people responsible and roll back assessments. Some municipalities want more services than others. They will have higher taxes than other communities.
Also, Arizona has really low property taxes. I have relatives in Florida that were amazed and jealous when I told them what I pay in property taxes. Furthermore, if you read the article above, we already have several laws or constitutional amendments dealing with this issue. The fact is that this a solution seeking a problem, not the other way around.
I wish I knew what was being done to defeat this... What a bad idea.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment