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>When you buy a property, you still pay taxes on whatever your purchase price is. And again every year after that, including whatever increase your taxing auth

>When you buy a property, you still pay taxes on whatever your purchase price is. And again every year after that, including whatever increase your taxing authority may legally apply, usually the maximum allowed by law unless you actively fight it. Texas has no state income tax and property taxes are (so they tell me) quite high as a result. My property tax is $7k+ each year. Not onerous because I have a full time job, but many of the retirees and landlords in my area did find it onerous enough to sell. Bad for renters because a lot of reasonably priced rental properly was lost, good for the city because a house like mine was torn down and 5-7 condos or townhomes took their place. Now the city is looking at easily 8 or 9 times the tax revenue for a single lot like mine since these new homes also appraise higher than mine. If anything prop 13 represents one extreme and Texas the other. It would be nice if we could meet somewhere in the middle.

ummonk 7y ago
It isn’t any coincidence that Texas is one of the few places in the US that has experienced large population growth without a corresponding affordability crisis.
- generalpass 7y ago
  Make it as hard to build a new residential unit in Texas as it is in California and that trend falls through the floor.
  - ummonk 7y ago
    They won't because they don't want to keep their property taxes affordable.
    - generalpass 7y ago
      > They won't because they don't want to keep their property taxes affordable. The tax rate has nothing to do with building houses.
      - ummonk 7y ago
        Sure it does. High uncapped taxes strongly incentivize property-owners to support new housing development. Low property taxes, capped to rise slower than inflation (e.g. prop 13), do the opposite. (I meant to say they do want to keep their taxes affordable)
        generalpass 7y ago
        > Sure it does. High uncapped taxes strongly incentivize property-owners to support new housing development. Low property taxes, capped to rise slower than inflation (e.g. prop 13), do the opposite. > (I meant to say they do want to keep their taxes affordable) That has absolutely nothing to do with CEQA.
neilparikh 7y ago
> a house like mine was torn down and 5-7 condos or townhomes took their place I fail to see the downside here. Isn't that a good thing, and exactly what you want in California (SFH being replaced with more units)?
- technofiend 7y ago
  >I fail to see the downside here. Isn't that a good thing, and exactly what you want in California (SFH being replaced with more units)? Depends on whether you're a preservationist or not. There are also other answers to high density than a few condos per each 5,000 sqft lot. Combine a few of those lots and you can build a 10-20 story tower which will hold many more people.

ummonk 7y ago

It isn’t any coincidence that Texas is one of the few places in the US that has experienced large population growth without a corresponding affordability crisis.

generalpass 7y ago
Make it as hard to build a new residential unit in Texas as it is in California and that trend falls through the floor.
- ummonk 7y ago
  They won't because they don't want to keep their property taxes affordable.
  - generalpass 7y ago
    > They won't because they don't want to keep their property taxes affordable. The tax rate has nothing to do with building houses.
    - ummonk 7y ago
      Sure it does. High uncapped taxes strongly incentivize property-owners to support new housing development. Low property taxes, capped to rise slower than inflation (e.g. prop 13), do the opposite. (I meant to say they do want to keep their taxes affordable)
      - generalpass 7y ago
        > Sure it does. High uncapped taxes strongly incentivize property-owners to support new housing development. Low property taxes, capped to rise slower than inflation (e.g. prop 13), do the opposite. > (I meant to say they do want to keep their taxes affordable) That has absolutely nothing to do with CEQA.

neilparikh 7y ago

> a house like mine was torn down and 5-7 condos or townhomes took their place I fail to see the downside here. Isn't that a good thing, and exactly what you want in California (SFH being replaced with more units)?

technofiend 7y ago
>I fail to see the downside here. Isn't that a good thing, and exactly what you want in California (SFH being replaced with more units)? Depends on whether you're a preservationist or not. There are also other answers to high density than a few condos per each 5,000 sqft lot. Combine a few of those lots and you can build a 10-20 story tower which will hold many more people.