4 ms·

Out of all the scenarios you posted, this is actually the easiest to solve: > 3) I am 75 years old living with my wife who is 70 years old in the house that we

Out of all the scenarios you posted, this is actually the easiest to solve: > 3) I am 75 years old living with my wife who is 70 years old in the house that we bought in 1950. We are both retired farmers. Our pension is 500 euros in total. In 1950 the area we selected for our house turned out to be a popular one (in 1950 it was just an empty field). Government passes the law and our house has a value of 500.000 (because of the area around it). Now out of the blue we have to pay property tax. What do we do? You sell the house and move somewhere with a cheaper COL. Presumably the assumption here is that neither you nor your wife work, so you are unproductive members of society (this is meant without negative connotation). However, there's no reason you should continue to be subsidized by the people living around you who are, again presumably, fine with paying the property tax. They are more able to put this popular area to good economic use.

nitrogen 10y ago
I want to make explicit the sentiment that I think underlies some of the comments here. For much of Western human existence, families could own, inherit, and stay in one place for generations. But now, catastrophic value inflation, property taxes, eminent domain, etc. threaten that expectation of stability. It shouldn't be surprising that people who don't value a migratory lifestyle are upset by being forced to abandon what they see as their little demesne.
- hx87 10y ago
  > For much of Western human existence, families could own, inherit, and stay in one place for generations. ...if they weren't expropriated by their overlords, driven off by war/disease/famine/poverty, etc. Staying in one region was common, but having the same house for generations on end was still an exception. Besides, moving every 30 years or so is hardly migratory.
- return0 10y ago
  Well to be honest most of these houses were build in the past 3 decades from the parents so their children have a ready-made home for them. We had a property boom in greece that was fueled by dirt-cheap loans from easy ECB money. Now the loans turned red, people don't have jobs, taxes have skyrocketed. It's a mess. But somehow the market has to move. Standing still is not a solution.
- selimthegrim 10y ago
  When black people are forced out by rising property taxes apparently it's fine but God forbid the same thing happen to old white people, Prop 13 gets passed in 5 ms then.
- antisthenes 10y ago
  Tough shit for the Western human existence then, I guess. Not sure why I'm expected to feel sympathy for those who enjoyed this brief and anomalous period in human history by luck of their heritage and place of birth. > But now, catastrophic value inflation, property taxes, eminent domain, etc. threaten that expectation of stability. If you enjoy value inflation of your assets, be prepared to pay appropriate property taxes that go hand in hand with that. Not sure why those people expect to have their cake and eat it to, at the cost of all the other taxpayers.
- jacalata 10y ago
  > For much of Western human existence, families could own, inherit, and stay in one place for generations. In the scenario you are responding to, the family isn't trying to stay in the one house for the next generation - it's occupied entirely by a retired couple with no income.

nitrogen 10y ago

I want to make explicit the sentiment that I think underlies some of the comments here. For much of Western human existence, families could own, inherit, and stay in one place for generations. But now, catastrophic value inflation, property taxes, eminent domain, etc. threaten that expectation of stability. It shouldn't be surprising that people who don't value a migratory lifestyle are upset by being forced to abandon what they see as their little demesne.

hx87 10y ago
> For much of Western human existence, families could own, inherit, and stay in one place for generations. ...if they weren't expropriated by their overlords, driven off by war/disease/famine/poverty, etc. Staying in one region was common, but having the same house for generations on end was still an exception. Besides, moving every 30 years or so is hardly migratory.
return0 10y ago
Well to be honest most of these houses were build in the past 3 decades from the parents so their children have a ready-made home for them. We had a property boom in greece that was fueled by dirt-cheap loans from easy ECB money. Now the loans turned red, people don't have jobs, taxes have skyrocketed. It's a mess. But somehow the market has to move. Standing still is not a solution.
selimthegrim 10y ago
When black people are forced out by rising property taxes apparently it's fine but God forbid the same thing happen to old white people, Prop 13 gets passed in 5 ms then.
antisthenes 10y ago
Tough shit for the Western human existence then, I guess. Not sure why I'm expected to feel sympathy for those who enjoyed this brief and anomalous period in human history by luck of their heritage and place of birth. > But now, catastrophic value inflation, property taxes, eminent domain, etc. threaten that expectation of stability. If you enjoy value inflation of your assets, be prepared to pay appropriate property taxes that go hand in hand with that. Not sure why those people expect to have their cake and eat it to, at the cost of all the other taxpayers.
jacalata 10y ago
> For much of Western human existence, families could own, inherit, and stay in one place for generations. In the scenario you are responding to, the family isn't trying to stay in the one house for the next generation - it's occupied entirely by a retired couple with no income.