Samantha Rinne
Resident Genderfluid Writer/Artist
First of all, it's an extremely regressive tax. As you know, society tends to like so-called "progressive taxes" while avoiding taxes that target the poor. So let's think about this, you scrape together enough to build a house. Barely. You can build a tiny house for about $10k or so. And then every year, you get to pay up, or someone who has nothing to do with building or maintaining the house tries to repossess it.
Well, you say, why is it regressive? The poor can only live in apartments. Well, no. Most of the country came from farmhouses and small family homes in the country. But movies and tv told them they had to leave their parents (or in some cases grandparents) behind in order to pursue some pipe drean of making it big. You want to stay at a nice hotel/apartment? You're paying to be in the city, you're paying to be near good jobs, you're paying to be near good food, good internet, and all sort of creature comforts. Out in the country, property tax charges people who have to pay a premium to even have decent internet on their housing. This is unjust. The people charging old ladies and people who live with their parents because they cannot afford even the crudest apartment are basically thieves.
What this is really about is a sort of state sponsored game of envy. People are brainwashed into thinking that the city will provide them all they need, so they flip their houses to go move there. Then generations later, these jealous kids of the stupid city folk want to tax these nice looking farm homes (which they sold in the first place to go chase some stupid dream). Did they work the field? Did they build or repair anything? No? Then what gives taxers the right to try to take this land?
Property tax is regressive precisely because small towns typically have only a few choices for work. If you worked on some self-employed gig, without such taxes, you still have a roof over your head, and some insulation, and heating and cooling can wait for when you have the money for your electric bill. With them, despite generations of family working hard to own a home, it can be taken in one generation, and then you'll be homeless.
But the problems with property tax don't end there. Because they typically are based on appraisal, you can get appraised as owning more of a house than you really do. If you live in a liberal state like New Jersey (that in order to promote development has raised property taxes), you are strongly encouraged to move away so that they can build a block. This destroys communities, in order to build up blocks as condominiums or high rises. Going by our New Jersey cottage, which btw my great grandfather built himself, but we are now paying more in property taxes between three people than for our property in Virginia (and it's a place with bare wood and no heating), if they cleared this block, it would result in all the pine trees getting cut (and some of them are at least a century old I think), all those ppl having to get new homes or be homeless, and some shopping centers put up. New Jersey tourism sprawl is already terrible, but urban sprawl creates more poverty, more homelessness, and more traffic jams.
What happens when you abolish property taxes (except for business property which is typically about what is actually used for profit)? Well, first, people stop being homeless. So you've solved one problem of people not being on the street when unemployed. Second, because most jobs ask for a permanent address, people now have a means of seeking employment, even if they must commute. Third, you've solved some problems of hygiene, meaning the average health of the populace is higher. You're also lowering rape and violent crime (outside the cities, where people have moved to multi-floor buildings), issues that plague people who have no protection against other people. Fourth, if less people value these "trendy" homes, big cities have less allure, aside from these nice apartments. This creates in turn two more things: an end to low quality apartments in favor of just paying repair fees, heating and cooling, and all the rest to keep your house nice, making a higher standard of living and the ability to command more for these apartments; and more importantly I means less people are moving to the city. The average small town used to have small businesses, which in turn created friendly communities. Instead, most small towns as a result of all the children moving away (you can't help youthful rebellion but you can make sure they have a place to move back to) essentially dry up economically. But thet don't actually have to be like this. I went to a small town called Colonial Beach, where they successfully found that in addition to being a tourist beach town, had a nice art movement going on. Once a lot of people start living in towns rather than cities, small businesses crop up, and more importantly, an alternative to urbanization and its noise, congestion, and poverty appears. The tourist/indie art town.
In short, when people have nice places to live, this also means that some of them do go to the cities. They get industrial jobs, and work to buy houses over their own to retire in. Small towns become communities, communities are where people (gay or straight) meet their lovers. Social security becomes mostly unnecessary, as does much of welfare and food stamps. There still are poor, but they have homes. They don't freeze in the cold. Property tax causes a great number of issues, including destruction of virgin land, and is unjust.
Basically, property tax is leftovers from feudalism. But we don't have kings granting properties to lords anymore. And we can collect taxes in other ways. Like, adding taxes to utilities, of which people willingly pay for, because they want that cool smart tv or that fast internet connection. In short, adding taxes to things people buy for their home can easily cover the real expenses of government, withour people having no place to rest (that in turn becomes their problem as they have to build facilities, which seldom work).
Well, you say, why is it regressive? The poor can only live in apartments. Well, no. Most of the country came from farmhouses and small family homes in the country. But movies and tv told them they had to leave their parents (or in some cases grandparents) behind in order to pursue some pipe drean of making it big. You want to stay at a nice hotel/apartment? You're paying to be in the city, you're paying to be near good jobs, you're paying to be near good food, good internet, and all sort of creature comforts. Out in the country, property tax charges people who have to pay a premium to even have decent internet on their housing. This is unjust. The people charging old ladies and people who live with their parents because they cannot afford even the crudest apartment are basically thieves.
What this is really about is a sort of state sponsored game of envy. People are brainwashed into thinking that the city will provide them all they need, so they flip their houses to go move there. Then generations later, these jealous kids of the stupid city folk want to tax these nice looking farm homes (which they sold in the first place to go chase some stupid dream). Did they work the field? Did they build or repair anything? No? Then what gives taxers the right to try to take this land?
Property tax is regressive precisely because small towns typically have only a few choices for work. If you worked on some self-employed gig, without such taxes, you still have a roof over your head, and some insulation, and heating and cooling can wait for when you have the money for your electric bill. With them, despite generations of family working hard to own a home, it can be taken in one generation, and then you'll be homeless.
But the problems with property tax don't end there. Because they typically are based on appraisal, you can get appraised as owning more of a house than you really do. If you live in a liberal state like New Jersey (that in order to promote development has raised property taxes), you are strongly encouraged to move away so that they can build a block. This destroys communities, in order to build up blocks as condominiums or high rises. Going by our New Jersey cottage, which btw my great grandfather built himself, but we are now paying more in property taxes between three people than for our property in Virginia (and it's a place with bare wood and no heating), if they cleared this block, it would result in all the pine trees getting cut (and some of them are at least a century old I think), all those ppl having to get new homes or be homeless, and some shopping centers put up. New Jersey tourism sprawl is already terrible, but urban sprawl creates more poverty, more homelessness, and more traffic jams.
What happens when you abolish property taxes (except for business property which is typically about what is actually used for profit)? Well, first, people stop being homeless. So you've solved one problem of people not being on the street when unemployed. Second, because most jobs ask for a permanent address, people now have a means of seeking employment, even if they must commute. Third, you've solved some problems of hygiene, meaning the average health of the populace is higher. You're also lowering rape and violent crime (outside the cities, where people have moved to multi-floor buildings), issues that plague people who have no protection against other people. Fourth, if less people value these "trendy" homes, big cities have less allure, aside from these nice apartments. This creates in turn two more things: an end to low quality apartments in favor of just paying repair fees, heating and cooling, and all the rest to keep your house nice, making a higher standard of living and the ability to command more for these apartments; and more importantly I means less people are moving to the city. The average small town used to have small businesses, which in turn created friendly communities. Instead, most small towns as a result of all the children moving away (you can't help youthful rebellion but you can make sure they have a place to move back to) essentially dry up economically. But thet don't actually have to be like this. I went to a small town called Colonial Beach, where they successfully found that in addition to being a tourist beach town, had a nice art movement going on. Once a lot of people start living in towns rather than cities, small businesses crop up, and more importantly, an alternative to urbanization and its noise, congestion, and poverty appears. The tourist/indie art town.
In short, when people have nice places to live, this also means that some of them do go to the cities. They get industrial jobs, and work to buy houses over their own to retire in. Small towns become communities, communities are where people (gay or straight) meet their lovers. Social security becomes mostly unnecessary, as does much of welfare and food stamps. There still are poor, but they have homes. They don't freeze in the cold. Property tax causes a great number of issues, including destruction of virgin land, and is unjust.
Basically, property tax is leftovers from feudalism. But we don't have kings granting properties to lords anymore. And we can collect taxes in other ways. Like, adding taxes to utilities, of which people willingly pay for, because they want that cool smart tv or that fast internet connection. In short, adding taxes to things people buy for their home can easily cover the real expenses of government, withour people having no place to rest (that in turn becomes their problem as they have to build facilities, which seldom work).
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