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First, grandpa will have to move eventually. 90 year olds in Ukraine got caught up in a war they had nothing to do with and had to move. Second, if the neighbo

First, grandpa will have to move eventually. 90 year olds in Ukraine got caught up in a war they had nothing to do with and had to move. Second, if the neighborhood gentrified around grandpa, his house value has gone up - he can sell at a good profit and use the money for his retirement as he wishes. Third - consider the counterfactual renter who was living in the same place and working just like grandpa, but had to move at the age of 60 because he couldn't afford the rent anymore. Why does grandpa get to stay but the other person, who is a renter with the same life story get forced out of the neighborhood?

cableshaft 4y ago
> 90 year olds in Ukraine got caught up in a war they had nothing to do with and had to move. I don't think this is a good example of why all grandpas will have to move eventually. We're not in a world war, at least not officially, and certainly not at all points in history.
Kon-Peki 4y ago
Just to be clear, though: Grandpa has a senior exemption that reduces his property tax, and if he is also low-income he also gets a senior tax freeze that keeps his taxes low enough to pay them. If his health was failing and things were really, really tight money-wise he could apply to not pay his taxes at all and instead put a lien on his property that gets paid when he passes and the kids sell it. High taxes don't have to be cruel. The real question is - what are they doing with the money? Are you getting a good value from your taxes? I mean, everyone knows that these governments are wasteful. But they are still spending the money on things. It's happening. Do you get any value from that? I just moved out of Chicago last year. I am not going to claim that Chicago is well run or a model of efficiency. But they have a lot of programs that they spend money on. The library system in Chicago is incredible. It is undeniably world class. Where I live now, youth hockey costs $500 for a session. In Chicago, it was $175 - with better coaches and the random NHL player showing up to show how to do drills and such. Piano lessons cost twice as much. The list goes on. But you know, grandpa is probably not taking piano lessons or playing hockey. So maybe he's not getting the best deal. I don't know.

cableshaft 4y ago

> 90 year olds in Ukraine got caught up in a war they had nothing to do with and had to move. I don't think this is a good example of why all grandpas will have to move eventually. We're not in a world war, at least not officially, and certainly not at all points in history.

Kon-Peki 4y ago

Just to be clear, though: Grandpa has a senior exemption that reduces his property tax, and if he is also low-income he also gets a senior tax freeze that keeps his taxes low enough to pay them. If his health was failing and things were really, really tight money-wise he could apply to not pay his taxes at all and instead put a lien on his property that gets paid when he passes and the kids sell it. High taxes don't have to be cruel. The real question is - what are they doing with the money? Are you getting a good value from your taxes? I mean, everyone knows that these governments are wasteful. But they are still spending the money on things. It's happening. Do you get any value from that? I just moved out of Chicago last year. I am not going to claim that Chicago is well run or a model of efficiency. But they have a lot of programs that they spend money on. The library system in Chicago is incredible. It is undeniably world class. Where I live now, youth hockey costs $500 for a session. In Chicago, it was $175 - with better coaches and the random NHL player showing up to show how to do drills and such. Piano lessons cost twice as much. The list goes on. But you know, grandpa is probably not taking piano lessons or playing hockey. So maybe he's not getting the best deal. I don't know.