Posted on 05/14/2007 6:13:57 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s
When Melissa Nolen first saw the sky-high property tax bill for her new home, she got nervous.
The next year, when her homeowner's insurance doubled, she got mad.
These days, 29-year-old Nolen is trying another tactic: Getting active. She recently became vice president of the Broward County Young Republicans and is keeping a close eye on tax reforms being debated at the state Capitol.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
That has to be one of the most Socialist statements I have read here on FR in a very long time...
Ern, you said it’s a crime to pay $800 for one and $2800 for the other.
But I can guarantee you that the reason they want to get rid of SOH is so they can charge you probably about $2400 on BOTH. Then they’ll say they cut your property taxes.
That’s not socialist. It’s good conservative common sense to not buy a house bigger than you can afford simply because you feel you “need” more, and then declare FL bankruptcy.
That’s what the dishonest people down here do. Run up their credit, buy a huge house, and declare. In FL they can’t take your house away. That’s why all the really rich folk come down here to do that. That’s why OJ is here.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Hmmm... dictating what YOU consider to be adequate for a family with a small child sure sounds like dictating a Socialist agenda to me.
Foot - if I could otherwise afford an upgraded home, only to find my property taxes increase out of proportion to the value of my new home - I would be hacked too. This is another uneven taxation scheme that penalizes people disproportionately. Then again, I also have a real problem with paying what amounts to rent to the government for the use of my own property...
try: Fire, police, sewer, streets, lighting, parks, school construction.
Property tax is a state/local tax, welfare is from federal dollars.
That’s not Socialist...that’s just anti-whine.
Gee, I drive a Toyota, but I should be entitled to drive a Rolls Royce. (end/sarc)
LOL. In my area in FL, the police hardly ever come and we pay to pave our own streets. And garbage. And the sewer comes out of our individual water bills.
That amazed me when I moved down here. If your street needs paving, the people in the subdivision vote, and if they vote to pave your street, they divy up the bill and you get it with your taxes over several years.
Actually I sort of like it that way. I’d rather pay for it individually than have it added in an amorphous mass to my taxes. People say FL has low taxes. That’s why.
The problem is, socialists keep moving down from the North and voting in more money “for the children and schools”. They’ve learned how to do it - add it to the constitution, and that keeps the more conservative legislature from voting on it. Then nobody can argue with it - it has to be done.
They’ve learned to phrase it in a way people will vote for it, without realizing the silliness they vote for. And then they HAVE to raise taxes for it.
As the early 19th century cartoon was captioned: "Don't Tax You..., Don't Tax Me..., Tax the Fella Behind that Tree"! Actually, equivalents probably were expressed THOUSANDS of years ago!
Florida has been the home of land speculation, fraud, and property boom/bust cycles since at least the 16th century when Ponce DeLeon was wandering around the state aimlessly looking for the "Fountain of Youth" and gold mining properties!
The Indian tribes of the day, recognizing that they didn't want DeLeon and his band hanging around their digs (with no casinos to profit from), kept giving him "inside tips" as to where the fountain and gold were located (always miles away from wherever he was at the moment!)
I don’t know that anyone really pays attention to how money is REALLY being spent. I worked in county government 30 plus years ago and we had an annual budget of several million dollars. It was disgraceful what went on toward the end of each budget year as departments rushed to spend the ‘leftover’ money rather than have to give it back or have their budgets reduced by that much in subsequent years. Money was salted all over the place and then ‘transferred’ as unexpected ‘needs’ would arise during the year.
What’s needed is some way to make the lawmakers feel more like the money they are spending is coming from their pockets.
That right there is EXACTLY the problem. County and city governments are way too generous with OUR money, and property tax values reflect that. The way to fix this is to address it at the county level- by electing people who can control themselves and resist the temptation to spray our tax money all over the place.
Always the one to beat the dead horse, I'll reiterate!
Your time would be better spent reforming the CURRENCY system of the U.S. Your taxes seem to be going up, but they are not---notice everything else, including GOLD, is going up as well. That means the currency is going DOWN. Gold, taxes, everything commodity based, is closer to constant, and measured in gold, other commoditites will seem constant. Measured in gold, the currency is going down.
You are paying more nominal dollars in taxes, but in real dollars or inflation adjusted dollars, you are paying the same tax. The problem is that you are not being paid more nominal dollars at work, rather you are being paid the same nominal dollars but less in real or inflation adjusted dollars. You feel squeezed by the tax guy and you are really being squeezed by your employer who should inflation adjust your salary. Though, if you manage to secure a "pay increase," don't think you are wealthier; you are not. The nominal increase would merely bring you even with what you were making in real terms before, and equalize you back to your ability to pay the tax which is the same in real terms.
This is what we get for our collective ignorance of Constitutional Law, specifically, Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1. And this is what we get for allowing Congress to delegate the monetary power to the Federal Reserve, neiter Federal nor do they have any reserves, a consortium of private banks.
Instead of gold and silver as an interest-free lien-free wholly owned national asset of the U.S. circulating as money, legal tender interest-bearing-debt-based currency borrowed from the central bank backed only by the "economy of the U.S." (and associated taxing power) is our money base, all borrowed, all on the books as debt, all earning interest to the benefit of the bank owners, paid by us.
Also paid by us is the cost of inflation, an invisible tax, the effect of which is being discussed in this thread. The world is awash in money, yet, for some reason, everyone (except the minority rich ruling classes) seems to be struggling to "keep up with the cost of living." Inflation is why. Our currency is why. The Federal Reserve is why. Do we have to have a central bank? Panama has no central bank and is doing fine. Bermuda has no IRS or income tax and is doing fine.
Having a "fairtax" would be great, but without a fair currency, it will be all for naught, because even if you change the way the tax is paid, without currency reform you don't change the way we all silently fall deeper into national debt slavery.
We must get out of debt. We ought to go back to silver and gold as per the Constitution. If because of whatever prejudices you have, you don't want silver and gold, then the currency can be unconnected with silver and gold, but at the same time it must not be borrowed (and certainly no interest attached).
Fail to do these things and your children and grandchildren will be running back and forth like you are now, fussing about their "high cost of living" and the "high taxes," not having any idea what to do to fix it. My grand kids will be blogging at yours, still saying "Enough, already! Fix the currency!" By that time a loaf of bread will cost $150.00 and everyone will make a million dollars a year, pay $500,000 in taxes, society will just keep adding zeros to every price, every salary, every tax, and nothing will have changed.
There's nothing wrong with her old house other than it's a bit too large for two people, and she's not as young as she once was. My sister and I have encouraged her to stay put at least until this tax issue is resolved.
I support the idea that only those that use the schools, libraries, and such should pay for them. Empty nesters need not be paying for other people's kids to go to school. Put a fee on library cards instead of gouging the homeowners.
I think value that a home is taxed should be “locked” when a house is bought or sold. The taxes should not go up or down for people who stay in their homes for their entire life. If a house goes up in value, the taxes should NOT be increased if the owner is not selling.
I agree. This is why so many elderly have to sell their homes. Even if an elderly couple received 1400 for social security and 2000 for pensions, the taxes going up can “eat” that up pretty quickly especially if other things go up along with it which they do.
Interestingly, the "Save Our Homes" constitutional amendment was BARELY passed by a few percentage points!
When it passed, a 50+% standard applied for constitutional amendments. The requirement is now 60+% for passage of constitutional amendments....
The town of Yarmouth on Cape Cod used to use that trick all the time, raising the assessment but lowering the mil rate.
So one year I'd be in the Assessors office shouting, "Find somebody to give me the $x you say it's worth!" and a couple of years later when they'd arbitrarily lowered the assessment, "You just stole $x from my home equity without a blink!"
I dont think I have to worry about them ever lowering it.
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