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I found this while looking for information about intentionally progressive property tax schemes. Not too surprising to find that expensive houses tend to be und

by topaz0 1y ago

I found this while looking for information about intentionally progressive property tax schemes. Not too surprising to find that expensive houses tend to be undertaxed (because they tend to be appraised below their true value), but I didn't have it in my mental model of wealth inequality, either.

Findeton 1y ago
I don't care about wealth inequality though. And trying to get taxes to be fair is impossible, as taxes are a form of theft.
- uberman 1y ago
  How do you propose paying for shared infrastructure and shared services if taxes are theft?
  - Findeton 1y ago
    Infrastructure is 0.5% of the government spending and can be paid by use, for example tolls.
    - uberman 1y ago
      Most local tax, certainly the lion's share of property taxes go to public schooling and services like fire fighters, sanitation, police, public works, and park and rec. Could we privatize all those things or set usage fees? Probably. Where I live many things like your well, sceptic system, garbage collection are privatized but that only works when one lives in the country. It would be impossible to privately implement most public services in urban settings. I don't think I would want to live in a city where trash collection was left up to the individual to work out how to address. Even then, you are going to end up paying for these services somehow right? In fact, I would rather my county work out a bulk trash collection contract likely at a discount and tax me for it based on the number of bedrooms I have than leave that to me to figure out with a bill I have to manage every month. Your mileage may vary as they say but while I hate paying tax, I do enjoy the services they support and I don't see them as any kind of theft.
- fuzzfactor 1y ago
  You do have a point, but in this case the original purpose of property tax is so that there is a provision for taxing authorities to confiscate the property itself, in case you or your heirs do not remain well-heeled enough to be fully welcome any more after the property is otherwise completely paid for. The money collected by the levies has always been just collateral damage.
Gibbon1 1y ago
I remember reading a treatise on the Junkers in Prussia. Farmland was taxed per acre. Respective of how productive it was. So Junkers who owned the most productive farmland got taxed at the same rate as a poor hardscrabble farmer. And that before outright fraud and corruption.
- stockresearcher 1y ago
  Here in Illinois all farmland is assigned a productivity index that is independently calculated by the agriculture department at UIUC using soil surveys. The land also gets a flood debasement index using flood records and crop loss claims. The most productive farmland gets taxed at rates at least 4x higher than poor farmland. And really poor farmland gets taxed as if it were nearly worthless. https://tax.illinois.gov/localgovernments/property/farmland.html https://tax.illinois.gov/localgovernments/property/farmland....

by topaz0 1y ago

Findeton 1y ago

I don't care about wealth inequality though. And trying to get taxes to be fair is impossible, as taxes are a form of theft.

uberman 1y ago
How do you propose paying for shared infrastructure and shared services if taxes are theft?
- Findeton 1y ago
  Infrastructure is 0.5% of the government spending and can be paid by use, for example tolls.
  - uberman 1y ago
    Most local tax, certainly the lion's share of property taxes go to public schooling and services like fire fighters, sanitation, police, public works, and park and rec. Could we privatize all those things or set usage fees? Probably. Where I live many things like your well, sceptic system, garbage collection are privatized but that only works when one lives in the country. It would be impossible to privately implement most public services in urban settings. I don't think I would want to live in a city where trash collection was left up to the individual to work out how to address. Even then, you are going to end up paying for these services somehow right? In fact, I would rather my county work out a bulk trash collection contract likely at a discount and tax me for it based on the number of bedrooms I have than leave that to me to figure out with a bill I have to manage every month. Your mileage may vary as they say but while I hate paying tax, I do enjoy the services they support and I don't see them as any kind of theft.
fuzzfactor 1y ago
You do have a point, but in this case the original purpose of property tax is so that there is a provision for taxing authorities to confiscate the property itself, in case you or your heirs do not remain well-heeled enough to be fully welcome any more after the property is otherwise completely paid for. The money collected by the levies has always been just collateral damage.

Gibbon1 1y ago

I remember reading a treatise on the Junkers in Prussia. Farmland was taxed per acre. Respective of how productive it was. So Junkers who owned the most productive farmland got taxed at the same rate as a poor hardscrabble farmer. And that before outright fraud and corruption.

stockresearcher 1y ago
Here in Illinois all farmland is assigned a productivity index that is independently calculated by the agriculture department at UIUC using soil surveys. The land also gets a flood debasement index using flood records and crop loss claims. The most productive farmland gets taxed at rates at least 4x higher than poor farmland. And really poor farmland gets taxed as if it were nearly worthless. https://tax.illinois.gov/localgovernments/property/farmland.html https://tax.illinois.gov/localgovernments/property/farmland....