Property Tax

[Allen]

One of the biggest government over reaches that exist.

Some say the taxes are for education, police and fire protection. My homeowners insurance will pay for any fire damage and should have to pay for any fire departments services. Why would someone who has a $500,000 home pay more tax than someone living in a $50,000 home? Does it cost more to extinguish the fire at the nicer home?

Police services? I donno, I've never called them but when a simple traffic violation or speeding ticket cost over $200 they should be self supporting.

Public school system? Aside from being an absolute joke lets say OK, then those in private schools or those being home schooled should be exempt from that portion of the property tax and where did the correlation come from where the amount of land you own or the value of your land and home equates to the number you have in public schools? In the cities the parents with the largest number of kids taking up seats in the school system rent. They don't own and can't afford to own. So, these people pay nothing for public education and it's not passed on to the landlords. They receive the same rent regardless of how large a family.

[dryheat]

I just got an interesting statement from our county assessor. 2024 my houses FCV (full cash value) is right on what I consider is accurate. $430,000. Then there's the estimate for 2025. The FCV drops $58,000. I tried to go on line but that's too tough for me to figure out. If you call the ph. no., well, I stayed on the phone for fifteen minutes and gave up.
I'm not overly concerned about any of it.
Oh and that's not what the tax is based on. It went up 5%.

[Major Tom]

Years ago, a friend planted a medium size back yard garden. He noticed his tax went up! When he inquiered about that, the city said he "improved" his property! BTW, this city uses drones to keep up to date on everyone's property 24-7.

[blackhawknj]

He should have said it was a food garden and demanded a farmland assessment.
Yes, with a property tax you don't own, you just rent from the municipality.
Chicago has always been very ruthless about collecting property taxes. And look at the quality of their "vital public services".
"Free" public schools-they're tuition-free, that's all.
IIRC one of the reasons why Caiifornians approved Proposition 13 in 1978 was, if a house was sold all the other houses in that neighborhood would be reassessed. People were going through yearly re-evaluations.
In the ciities the parents with the largest number of kids in school, live off public largess, use their children as meal tickets.

[Art]

When I was a child the only tax in Texas was the property tax. The property tax goes back to the founding of The Republic and isn't going away. I consider it one of the first "soak the rich" taxes because it was targeted originally at larger land owners but of course has trickled down to everyone, even if you rent.

Free states often handle things differently. Here a property tax reform law was just passed more than doubling the percentage of appraised value that is exempt the tax. It also capped the increase a taxing entity can impose on the value of your home to 10% a year. The effect of this can vary a bit on where you live but where I am, in conjunction with the "geezer exemptions" that kick in here at age 85, the tax on our modest $275,000.00 place became zero. Now that's an exception but everyone I know has seen big reductions.

I personally would prefer sales taxes in lieu of all other taxes, including excise and luxury taxes many of which we actually pay but never see. Since the tax would be paid on what you spend you would know exactly what the "gubmint" would be taking on every purchase. Now I realize that all in such taxes, if they were Federal, State and Local could total up to 40% of each purchase, but you know what, sports fans, you're actually paying at least that now.

[Allen]

I agree that taxes should be paid in the form of sales tax. That way everyone pays.

As I mentioned before, I inherited a portion of land in Texas that had one producing oil well on it. For several reasons all of us who received the land sold it to avoid liability but retained the mineral rights. We paid property taxes before. Now we are charged about the same amount for the minerals under the property and pay taxes on any oil that is pumped. So, we're paying taxes for those minerals twice plus the new owners are paying property taxes on the land.

[Art]

I'm going to make a point I've made before. The property tax gets a lot of criticism, most of it in the form of "I don't really own my home it the 'gubmint can take it on a tax lien." If you think that's bad, the IRS can literally take everything you've got, your house your bank accounts, your chattel property, the works. Any taxing agency is another side of the same coin. Don't pay and they are coming for your stuff.

I know people who through no fault of their own were reduced to poverty by the IRS including one who simply had his name on a signature card when the company big shots got the h#ll out of Dodge (and the country) leaving this poor guy holding the bag. He had no idea they were committing fraud and he, in fact had no accounting function, he was just the last man standing who could write a check. There is a Tyler Perry movie called "Madea's Witness Protection" dealing a variation on this issue. Note - if you don't have access to the books don't have your name on a bank signature card.

One more plus about the sales tax. If the tax isn't paid they're going after the merchant, not you. I know somebody that happened to also. His business was failing and he suddenly didn't have the money on hand to write the sales tax check to the state. Yep, he was in a heap of trouble too.

[RED]

"Police services? I donno, I've never called them but when a simple traffic violation or speeding ticket cost over $200 they should be self supporting."

Those tickets rarely cost $200! The last one I got cost me $2,048. That was $248 for a fine and $1,800 insurance premium for my cars!

This was a completely ridiculous ticket by a crooked city cop for a Failure to Yield. I was in the left turn lane and the cop was on the through lane opposite direction. It was rush hour and I had sit for 2 cycles, and when the light went green the cop did not move and pointed to me to make the turn. Stupidly, I made the turn and he wrote the ticket and laughed.

My Insurance went up $300 every month for 3 years.

[Allen]

"Police services? I donno, I've never called them but when a simple traffic violation or speeding ticket cost over $200 they should be self supporting."

Those tickets rarely cost $200! The last one I got cost me $2,048. That was $248 for a fine and $1,800 insurance premium for my cars!

This was a completely ridiculous ticket by a crooked city cop for a Failure to Yield. I was in the left turn lane and the cop was on the through lane opposite direction. It was rush hour and I had sit for 2 cycles, and when the light went green the cop did not move and pointed to me to make the turn. Stupidly, I made the turn and he wrote the ticket and laughed.

My Insurance went up $300 every month for 3 years.

You DO seem to have bad luck with the cops in your area.

Overall, I see the good side of them. I've been ticketed for a few things I wasn't guilty of but to some degree we probably all break the law every time we drive. Unfortunately it comes down to one persons judgement most of the time and no proof (video, radar). When I worked I drove 110 miles a day and my trips looked much like the chase scenes you see on YouTube (me being the speeder).

What I was referring to though was "calling" the police for something like a domestic call or complaint against a neighbor, someone shooting at me, running into my fence or house, etc.

[Johnny P]

Haven't had to use one, but hear that it is cheaper to hire a traffic ticket lawyer to get your speeding ticket reduced to no points than pay jacked up auto insurance forever. There are firms that specialize in traffic tickets. Paying the ticket for your foul deed is just the beginning.

[JohnMOhio]

Hey Red! If your insurance premium increased by $300 a month due to that ticket I would think you need a new insurance company and a new agent. I don't know of any company that would increase the premium over that type of violation. Is there more to the story? What was your record at that time?

[dryheat]

Haven't had to use one, but hear that it is cheaper to hire a traffic ticket lawyer to get your speeding ticket reduced to no points than pay jacked up auto insurance forever. There are firms that specialize in traffic tickets. Paying the ticket for your foul deed is just the beginning.

I saw a smart guy bring his lawyer. The lawyer said something in code and the judge responded. It was well done.

[Vern Humphrey]

I agree that taxes should be paid in the form of sales tax. That way everyone pays.

As I mentioned before, I inherited a portion of land in Texas that had one producing oil well on it. For several reasons all of us who received the land sold it to avoid liability but retained the mineral rights. We paid property taxes before. Now we are charged about the same amount for the minerals under the property and pay taxes on any oil that is pumped. So, we're paying taxes for those minerals twice plus the new owners are paying property taxes on the land.

The problem with a sales tax is that it is regressive. Imagine a man who makes $40K a year. He has to spend it all to keep alive. At 30% (the usually suggested "national sales tax") he would be paying $12K a year -- a full 30% of his income.

Now imagine a man who makes $400k year -- he can't spend all that. He might spend $200k a year, and pay $60k a year in taxes, only 15% of his income. A sales tax is regressive and favors the rich.

I personally think we should pay the Fair Tax. Everyone pays exactly what I pay, to the penny.

Now some will say, "not everyone can pay that much."

And I reply, "they should be whipped until they do."

[Johnny P]

While sales tax might appear regressive, it is a tax that everyone has to pay. People that don't own any property get to vote on raising your property tax, which is then applied to only those that own property.

[Vern Humphrey]

Pretty much like it is today -- slugs who don't work vote to raise YOUR taxes,