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You joke surely? - I live in the Bay Area, we largely have some of the worst schools on average. Yes some areas are perfect but the majority you don't want you

You joke surely? - I live in the Bay Area, we largely have some of the worst schools on average. Yes some areas are perfect but the majority you don't want your kid going to. - Roads? What roads? The roads that are over-congested? The roads that have potholes that are measured in feet deep? - Power, water, clean air? Surely some of that is covered in the fees I already pay for? I pay some of the highest water/sewer/electric rates in the country. - Safety? I have a statistically higher chance of getting mugged in the Bay Area then most other parts of the country. I have lived in Oakland and San Francisco for a decade. I never see police but have seen lots of crime. Again, I ask, what for? I already pay some of the highest tax rates here. My property tax is expensive, my income tax is high. I get very little back from the state. Why would I trust the state to mishandle even more money?

anoonmoose 7y ago
> Again, I ask, what for? You're paying high taxes because they can tax you that highly and you haven't moved away yet. When they increase them and you still don't move their take away will be that they can probably raise them even higher. You're the sucker here.
secabeen 7y ago
While your property tax is high, property taxes in CA are generally low. See Prop 13. Also, feet-deep pot-holes? So how many cars are bottoming out each week? California's tax burden is ~9%, and within 1% of the median: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494/ https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-bur...
- infecto 7y ago
  The worst one I measured in my neighborhood was about 12 inches so I guess the majority are more in the 3-6inch ranch. Enough that its an issue. I live in one of the nicer parts of Oakland too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY You don't have to tell me about Prop 13, its a joke and I push to remove it as often as I can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY
searine 7y ago
>Again, I ask, what for? You live in the most expensive real-estate in the country and complain that it costs money to maintain. Pay your fair share.
- infecto 7y ago
  You must not understand me well. My complaint is that I pay some of the highest taxes in the country for some of the lowest benefits. Not sure what this has to do with me paying my fair share?
  - searine 7y ago
    >My complaint is that I pay some of the highest taxes in the country for some of the lowest benefits. And my argument is that you are undervaluing the cost of the benefits it provides. Particularly in a cosmopolitan city, there are layers upon layers of infrastructure and society which need to be supported. Here you are standing on top of it all complaining about the breeze. Paying your fair share is recognizing that you are in a position of privilege and giving back those who allow you to be there. The system depends on people like you to strengthen the ladder you used to climb up in life, not pull it up behind you.
epistasis 7y ago
You pay high taxes because Prop 13 disallows fair taxation of long-held wealth. So the person with $500M of property, in another state, would be shouldering a fair amount of burden, but here in California they will be taxed nearly nothing if they've held the land for decades. Instead, we have high sales tax, and high income taxes so that long-time wealthy residents have it easier.

anoonmoose 7y ago

> Again, I ask, what for? You're paying high taxes because they can tax you that highly and you haven't moved away yet. When they increase them and you still don't move their take away will be that they can probably raise them even higher. You're the sucker here.

secabeen 7y ago

While your property tax is high, property taxes in CA are generally low. See Prop 13. Also, feet-deep pot-holes? So how many cars are bottoming out each week? California's tax burden is ~9%, and within 1% of the median: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494/ https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-bur...

infecto 7y ago
The worst one I measured in my neighborhood was about 12 inches so I guess the majority are more in the 3-6inch ranch. Enough that its an issue. I live in one of the nicer parts of Oakland too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY You don't have to tell me about Prop 13, its a joke and I push to remove it as often as I can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCNMQ7TOgY

searine 7y ago

>Again, I ask, what for? You live in the most expensive real-estate in the country and complain that it costs money to maintain. Pay your fair share.

infecto 7y ago
You must not understand me well. My complaint is that I pay some of the highest taxes in the country for some of the lowest benefits. Not sure what this has to do with me paying my fair share?
- searine 7y ago
  >My complaint is that I pay some of the highest taxes in the country for some of the lowest benefits. And my argument is that you are undervaluing the cost of the benefits it provides. Particularly in a cosmopolitan city, there are layers upon layers of infrastructure and society which need to be supported. Here you are standing on top of it all complaining about the breeze. Paying your fair share is recognizing that you are in a position of privilege and giving back those who allow you to be there. The system depends on people like you to strengthen the ladder you used to climb up in life, not pull it up behind you.

epistasis 7y ago

You pay high taxes because Prop 13 disallows fair taxation of long-held wealth. So the person with $500M of property, in another state, would be shouldering a fair amount of burden, but here in California they will be taxed nearly nothing if they've held the land for decades. Instead, we have high sales tax, and high income taxes so that long-time wealthy residents have it easier.