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Anyone in this situation can easily take out a home equity loan to pay the taxes and come out way ahead. Your assertion that the higher taxes would force them t
by harryh 7y ago
Anyone in this situation can easily take out a home equity loan to pay the taxes and come out way ahead. Your assertion that the higher taxes would force them to move is wrong.
- scarface74 7y agoSay you have equity in a non public company, would you be okay if the government taxed your equity forcing you to take out a loan against it?
- neilparikh 7y agoThese 2 scenarios aren't equivalent. Land is an exclusionary good; you using it means I can't. Equity is non-exclusionary. Additionally, the city has to provide services to owners of land, which requires money. The government has no such obligation to owners of equity.
- scarface74 7y agoYes, land is exclusionary but there is plenty of it in the US. People in California just don’t want to live there. The government also has to fund services to everyone who works there whether or not they own land. Do devices cost more to home owners based on the value of their land? I thought the purpose of tax was to fund the government. Not to take stuff that other people wanted.....
- harryh 7y agoI thought the purpose of tax was to fund the government. Not to take stuff that other people wanted..... Property taxes are among the most economically efficient taxes that exist. They are an excellent way to fund the government.
- scarface74 7y agoHow are they "economically efficient"? It doesn't cost anymore to serve someone in a million dollar home than a $200K home. Besides that you get into situations where richer neigborhood have better services, better funded school systems, etc.
- harryh 7y agoBecause they don't discourage otherwise positive economic activity.
- scarface74 7y agoDo you feel the same way about the government taking private property via eminent domain to build a Walmart?
- harryh 7y agoNo.
- scarface74 7y agoWhat's the difference? Either way you're taking property for "positive economic activity". A Walmart can bring more jobs than a group of houses....
- tptacek 7y agoOne obvious difference is that property taxes are applied uniformly and predictably --- a whole industry exists to plan around them --- and eminent domain is not, so widespread application of ED would create uncertainty that would discourage positive activity.
- scarface74 7y agoWhat’s “predictable” about having to pay taxes on a property that you don’t know how much will appreciate? Someone who bought a house 30 years ago while they were working, paid it off and had enough in savings to pay their bills but not pay taxes on a house that went up 10x the rate of inflation couldn’t predict their tax bill. What happens when they can’t pay their taxes? The government takes it.
- harryh 7y agoI don't understand why that is a relevant question.
- scarface74 7y agoBecause people are always willing to tax other people's wealth.
- harryh 7y agoProperty taxes aren't wealth taxes, they're consumption taxes. This is obvious when you consider the fact that a person who owns a piece of property outright pays the same property tax as someone who owns a similar piece of property but carries a mortgage.
- scarface74 7y agoDoes a person who owns a $1 million dollar home "consume" more resources than a person who owns a $200K home? What if the homes are the same but in different parts of the city?
- harryh 7y agoYes.
- scarface74 7y agoHow so?
- harryh 7y agoSome land is more valuable than other land. Living on top of more valuable land consumes a more valuable resource.
- 7y ago