Comments on: Property Tax Woes Explained

By: Deep Throat II

Deep Throat II — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 19:52:20 +0000

Why are you people “asking” the Gov and politicians for property tax relief? They work for you, not the other way around. “Tell” them what you want done and “make” them do it, i.e. stop taxing you to death. They have no power that you don’t grant to them.

Property taxes are one of the most stupid and onerous of taxes. Change it to a sales tax or a voluntary lottery or whatever but dump the damn property tax.

You all know, I hope, that the real problem is not taxation but rather unbridled spending by the politicians. And you all should know that they spend spend spend because they want to route YOUR money into their pockets or the pockets of their friends.

In fact, with no gold standard backing our hyperinflated paper dollars, the politicians don’t even need to tax us anymore. The private Federal Reserve can print up as much paper as it wants. Taxation is simply the govt’s method by which to convince the suckers that they are supporting their govt. The states may not legally be able to print dollars but they sure rake ’em in from the feds via grants and earmarks. Why not just let the cities, counties, and states print up whatever they need? That’s about what’s going on anyway under a different name.

So let’s all stop whining about the best way to implement property taxes when we all know that the real solution is to dump property taxes altogether. And if I hear one more idiot claim that we need property taxes to pay for our absurd socialist pub ed system, I will barf on their social studies book.

OK, I heard that. Barf.

DT II

P.S. By the way, housing prices are not going up because there is a shortage of homes or property, you dummies. The problem is an oversupply of dollars, not a shortage of commodities. Inflation of the money supply causes a general rise in prices. You are in the middle of a taxflation. Wake up.

By: Sleuth

Sleuth — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:41:00 +0000

First of all, California schools are NOT in financial trouble because of Prop 13. The money rolling in to local govts is still huge. There are other problems facing the schools–starting with their administrations.

You list the types of courses NOT being taught. You should also list the ridiculous courses that are. Pointing a finger at Prop 13 as hurting schools is a completely bogus issue and has nothing to do with protecting seniors and others from being taxed out of their homes!

Prop 13 is needed in Idaho. The legislature says its too difficult to “change the law” to accomodate property tax protections. Well, they certainly manage to find other ways to “change the law” when they wish to for other reasons. For them to say it’s too difficult to protect citizens is nonsense.

It’ll going to be very interesting in this state as the Baby Boomers begin to retire and find they can’t afford massive property tax. When they lose their homes, where are they going to go? Hmmm?

By: dan

dan — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:24:17 +0000

I spent 35 years working nights and weekends rebuilding older houses that I could use as rentals with the plan they would supply me with retirement income. Now because I have to subsidize out of state developers so they can make big money in Idaho I can’t afford to keep some of my property, simply because I can’t continue to raise the rents to cover the taxes.
I am also very angry that our beloved officials managed to schedule the vote for the new state college just 2 or 3 weeks before these latest assessment notices came out. How about letting us vote on that one again!!!!
And you can’t blame it on one party, they are all a bunch of power hungry greedy people. All our politions see anymore is POWER and MONEY!!!

By: PROP 13 NOW

PROP 13 NOW — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 08:24:11 +0000

We need a Prop 13 NOW that would cap our value at what we paid for the house when we bought it.

The government will not go under and it is the only way we can disconnect this out of control money grab.

When values go down you will NEVER see your taxes go down. PROP 13 NOW!

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 03:37:14 +0000

No, Robert, the state of California did not go bankrupt from Proposition 13; the state does not receive money from property taxes, local governments and schools do. But some of the counties have gone nearly bankrupt while community services and schools have suffered.

California, which pioneered driver’s training, dropped it entirely. Many schools have no music program. Libraries and other institutions have suffered. Senior citizen programs are a shell of what they were. In addition, some things receive more state funding than previously, allowing for more state control at the local level.

By: Robert McCaw

Robert McCaw — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 21:32:30 +0000

California, a bad word for most Idahoans, passed Prop 13. It capped the homeowners assessment at the purchase price. It was also transportable within a few SoCal counties so seniors could move and provide space for growing families. The state did not go bankrupt as predicted. I firmly believe that a prop 13 is necessary in Idaho as my assessment increased about 57% and on a retirees fixed income it really hurts!

By: dog

dog — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:39:46 +0000

I agree completely, however the blame for the property tax scam needs to be placed at the feet of those who keep perpetuating the system. That would be Idaho Republican politicians and your friends and mine, the rank and file Idaho Republican voters who keep electing these greedy legislators who only care about re-election.

They are the ones who benefit from developer paid election fund handouts. This state is owned ,run and operated for and by Republicans. If you don’t like the system ask an Idaho Republican how it is working for them.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:11:21 +0000

I am another one that will not be able to afford my property taxes when I retire. I bought this place 7 yrs ago and thought it would be my last house to buy and one that I would retire in.

I didn’t buy it for profit, I bought it to live in and retire in. Now what does a person in my postion do? Where do I move to? Will there be no place for family’s like mine to retire and not be afraid the goverment will force me out of my home.

I agree with Tom Lopez idea’s and protecting my property from goverment seizures. How do we get this greedy bunch running this State to understand the common family?

By: eric

eric — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:50:19 +0000

We need to completely separate the amount of property tax from the value of the property and levy it based only on the cost of delivering services to that property. All other funding for cities, counties, and schools should come from other sources.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 01:53:29 +0000

I would add that our elected officials have a fiduciary responsiblility to the folks tha eleceted them to manage growth and not just let it happen. Impact fees and exactements are allowed by the Land Use Planning Act why don’t these elected officials use these tools.

Lastly, as homeowners we do not get to participate in any way when the value of our homes go up other than the right to pay more taxes on the appreciated value. I am sure that I am not alone but my current property tax burden is now more than my mortgage payment was when I retired my mortgage in 1994. There is something fundamentally wrong with this deal and the state legislature simply will not deal with this problem.

Every time they float a bond issue they tell us the levy rate won’t go up. Joke is on all of us as the assessed values do go up and so do your taxes. With all the increased valuations why isn’t the levy rate going down? Simple, your elected officials are spending money like drunk sailors on payday.

I am simply disgusted with the whole rotten deal.