shinypenny wrote:
v wrote:
On 18 Mar 2005 12:16:02 -0800, someone wrote:


frankly, why shouldn't I pay more taxes since my kids are
attending
the
schools? The schools are why we moved here in the first place.

Glad you are so accepting of it. But what about the childless
couple
who buys a house there, what rationale is there for them to pay
more
than their neighbors?

Well, no. Whether you have kids or not, we all benefit by educating
kids. Lower crime, stronger economy, etc, etc.

I agree with you, but it bugs me that people immediately assume that
property taxes = public schools, and forget road work, ambulance,
police, library and all those other services. (Yes, it's override time
in my town...). Making a 1:1 correlation between property taxes and
schools just confounds the issue; it's 'property' taxes, not tuition.

What about someone who has lived there a long
time, has many children, and pays less than you do?

If there is going to be a property tax, then it should be on the
value
of the property.

That's all well fine and good, until you have to sell your house to
afford your annual taxes!

IMO, the effect is to encourage homeowners to stay put in one house
instead of hop to a new, bigger house every few years. The benefit is
a
stable, diverse community. People who intend to stay in the same
house
for decades tend to care more about their community overall.


jen

Here, I disagree and had no idea that there were places in the US where
assessment values were tied to duration of ownership -- I think this
assumes that service utilization decreases over time, per capita -
which I don't believe is true - and that it creates a penalty for folks
moving into a town. It would also be interesting to see how this would
apply to a very large property that has been in the family since the
early 1700's.... We have a 'Roach Motel' town where once people move
in, they never leave -- yet there's a fair deal of trading up and
trading down of homes within the community, mainly because it's tricky
to expand homes based on required setbacks, and smaller 'starter' homes
with less land are closer to the town center, hence more desirable for
the elderly. I'm a big booster of the over-65 set, yet have to question
whether the long-time homeowners really are *more* concerned than the
newcomers -- I think, on par, level of concern is equal and although a
senior member may have the time to serve on more committees, they are
often not as able to serve on the volunteer fire/ambulance staff, pick
up trash, or work at the recycling center, for example. I would guess
that you get stability but not diversity in a community where all
newcomers carry the oldtimers -- Jen, I'm curious to know, how does it
really play out in your town?

Caledonia