Posted on 04/01/2002 7:23:38 AM PST by tcostell
My wife and I are about to be forced from our home by Socialists.
This may seem like hyperbole, but in fact, it’s much closer to the truth than I would like.
Our home is on the northern border of Westchester County NY, in a town called Putnam Valley. My wife and I both moved around a lot as children, so we hoped to buy a home which could accommodate our growing family for more than a few years. We wanted to be in a safe area where we could raise our children, away from the problems of the city. We both worked, often 15 hours a day for over a decade, and put off parenthood till two years ago, to be able to afford it. We’re not rich, but with hard work perseverance, and careful planning we could afford to get out of the city.
Our Town assessor values our home at $586,000. With that assessment, our local Real Estate taxes come to a total of $19,800 per year, $17,600 of which is school taxes. Our local taxes have increased more than 30% in the last 3 years, even though the non-school portion of the town budget has been cut by 30% over that same time.
Under NY State law the school budget must be approved by the voters, and our school budget gets voted down every year, but because of something which NY state calls a “austerity” budget, the increases keep coming. Last year, the difference between the actual school budget which was voted down and the “austerity” budget was $30,000, out of a total annual budget of $27,000,000. That twenty seven million dollars a year to provide a mediocre education for less than 1500 kids.
The school superintendent, has made it clear that we can expect to see double digit increases for each of the next three years, and talks, in an interview with the NY Times, about plans to let the high school students specialize in medicine or law. And as a part of the last “austerity” budget she included the hiring of a groundskeeper at $85,000 per year.
When I tried to protest these excesses, I attended a school board meeting only to find that the superintendent had used her access to ensure that it was being attended by as many of the teachers in the school district as possible, even though they don't live in the district. I spoke to a few before the meeting and they made it clear that they would receive my complaints with great hostility. This is the NEA we’re talking about not the teamsters, so I wasn’t afraid of being injured, but it’s difficult to make a point when you know it will be drowned out by booing. I confess, I was intimidated.
My wife was in tears last night when we sat trying to figure out where the money will come from for the rest of this year. We can handle our mortgage, and even the taxes, if they were at the level from three years ago, but we’ve had an increase of over $6,000 per year in the last 3 years, and that’s $500 per month which we don’t have. We could borrow a little from family members to keep us going for a little while, but that won’t solve the problem. It’s a hard choice for us, but it looks like we will have to leave.
I’m angry and resentful that I’m being forced to move my wife and daughter because some socialist nit-wit thinks that high school kids should specialize in medicine or law. I’m angry that this imbecile who can’t teach kids to read and write, is placing my daughters future in jeopardy, and making my wife cry. And most of all I’m angry because I feel like the Joads from the Grapes of Wrath. I’m being forced from my home by an organization I can’t control, and that organization has turned out to be my government.
Well, maybe we aren’t as bad off as all that. We won’t be living in a truck. We’ll find a smaller house, in a worse neighborhood. But I hate being defeated by blind beaurocracy. My apologies to all you freepers who may be reading this rant but I guess I thought it would make me feel better. I guess when the inmates run the asylum it’s hard to tell if your crazy or not, and I just wanted a reminder. Thank you all for your patience.
I've identified your problem. I'm assessing you $5.00 for my work.
Seems you probably should have bought a smaller house.
Quick story. I do mortgages. A gentleman and his wife recently applied for a mortgage to purchase a home that was $220,000. The home hasnt been built yet and the developer was planning on starting construction in the next few weeks. Well, the customer was satisfied with a 30 year fixed rate of 7%, but wanted to lock it in today for 180 days so he could assure his rate at 7% when constrution was complete and he closed on the mortgage. I told him I could lock it for that long and laid out the costs of the extended lock-in that needed to be paid to get the extended lock. As I suspected he didnt like the fees. And I told him he was right to not like them and advised him against the extended lock.
His reaction... Well, if the interest rate goes above 7% by even a fraction between now and when we can do a regular loc-in the payments on the mortgage will be a burden and we wont be able to purchase the home.
My reaction... Sir, if a rise in interest rates of even 1/8th of a percent is going to pose a financial burden I strongly suggest buying a much smaller house. He wasnt happy with me, but sometimes people do need to be informed of their own stupidity.
Can't tell you what the 'initiative' was, other than to raise our taxes. We went from about $5k to just over $6500/yr. for a home valued at $230k. That's 2.7% of the value of my home PER YEAR.
The school system here had a very aggressive phone campaign going every night, calling EVERY home in the area, sometimes twice per night, telling people that unless they voted for the tax increase, class sizes would double, and the school day would be cut by one and a half hours PER DAY. The phone campaign was so bad, I had to call the phone company to have the incoming calls blocked, and I went out and bought one of those tele-zapper devices (which do work, btw!)
Parents of school age children including myself felt like this was blackmail & extortion and worked hard to defeat the tax increase.
I send my kids to PRIVATE school, so I end up paying twice anyway, but I'll be darned if I wanted to pay another $1500/yr. for a crappy school system that my kids will not attend!
So the wife and I are talking about moving too, much as I don't want to. We live in a great neighborhood with wonderful neighbors, and everyone gets along just fine. I resent on principle, being taxed to death by a taxing body that's not accountable to anyone.
Good luck to you.
But your point you are trying to make has to do with your property rights and I fully agree with you. You don't have them.
Your class envy is showing. Read his post. He and his wife put off having children to afford a home and live in an area that was safe for their children. How do you know that the real estate market where he lives doesn't command such a price? Seen real estate prices in California? I have friends there who paid more than $400k for a house less than half the size of mine, and my house is only $230k.
My wife and I did the same thing the poster did, waiting to start and raise a family in a nice, relatively secure area.
Sometimes people act on principle, not on their wallets.
These insane Westchester bedroom communities are going to collapse under their own arrogance. I just want to be there to hear the thud.
Here is an example Home. for the area. I'm not crying poverty, I just didn;t plan on an additional 6 to 8 thousand a year in taxes.
My guess is that you will get to keep about $20,000 or more of YOUR MONEY every year.
And I am well aware of the difference in real esate markets. My aunt and uncles previous home in Palo Alto California was nearly $2,000,000 and was 2/3rds the square footage of my parents $90,000 home in upstate NY. Their new home is a monster and over $6,000,000. Being big giant left wing liberals, if I ever hear them bitch about taxes I will smack them.
Within 10 days of the decision we closed on both homes. The new one is on 25 acres, smaller easier to clean and we just love it!!
Don't cry, take it as an adventure. Five years from now, you'll be better off. God's in control.
That's about $18,000 per child. Yikes!
And at 25 kids per classroom, that's about $450,000 per classroom!
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