3 ms·

» Imagine you're 75, retired, and suddenly your property tax spikes and the house you bought 20 years ago for 150 is now worth 750K, and now you're on the hook

by mcny 5y ago

» Imagine you're 75, retired, and suddenly your property tax spikes and the house you bought 20 years ago for 150 is now worth 750K, and now you're on the hook for 30K. I propose a complete overhaul to this tax. We make this tax a federal tax, no exclusion allowed for any reason. Increase this tax rate to about 8% of the property value meaning if the property is worth USD 1M, you owe USD 80k in property tax each year. No exclusions for anyone. Walmart pays. Megachurches pay. Amazon.com pays. Yes, even the state capitol pays and public schools pays. Now, to make the math work, we must make a calculation we revise each year. What is the median price of a two bedroom unit in the nation? Every adult gets this allowance for the year. Ideally, this more than offsets the cost of the property tax for this person. If it doesn't, the person is responsible for the difference. The beauty of this scheme is every building pays and failure to pay for about five to ten years is enough to confiscate the property and put it back in circulation. Everyone has some money for housing. If some place is too expensive, move elsewhere and make money.

ericmay 5y ago
For “homes I live in” $80,000 is far too much but locking in property taxes (non-transferable) at time of purchase seems to ale sense to me. $80,000 is what, twice the median income?
- t-writescode 5y ago
  Isn't this how we got into the situation in California?
  - ericmay 5y ago
    Well not entirely and there are a lot of factors. One quick thing id mention is this should apply to residential dwellings only. I’ve heard stories (rumors?) of places like golf courses being locked into low property taxes too which isn’t great. But you don’t want to kick someone out of a house they bought because property taxes went up. That property taxes have increased so much that this is even possible is concerning. They shouldn’t go up that much. The housing issues in California come down to regulation making it expensive and difficult to build, and just way too many people wanting to move somewhere with some of the best weather and natural features and jobs in the world. That California is inherently expensive shouldn’t be controversial or surprising.

by mcny 5y ago

ericmay 5y ago

For “homes I live in” $80,000 is far too much but locking in property taxes (non-transferable) at time of purchase seems to ale sense to me. $80,000 is what, twice the median income?

t-writescode 5y ago
Isn't this how we got into the situation in California?
- ericmay 5y ago
  Well not entirely and there are a lot of factors. One quick thing id mention is this should apply to residential dwellings only. I’ve heard stories (rumors?) of places like golf courses being locked into low property taxes too which isn’t great. But you don’t want to kick someone out of a house they bought because property taxes went up. That property taxes have increased so much that this is even possible is concerning. They shouldn’t go up that much. The housing issues in California come down to regulation making it expensive and difficult to build, and just way too many people wanting to move somewhere with some of the best weather and natural features and jobs in the world. That California is inherently expensive shouldn’t be controversial or surprising.