State Property Tax Relief Is a Distant Memory .....This post is going to kinda come from a different angle - the downside of tax relief. If we lived in a perfect world, whenever we got a tax cut, it would just stay there, and citizens would have more in their pockets to pay bills, shop, stimulate the economy, create jobs, etc.... By now, all the liberals have already tuned out. Sorry .........
No, the sad fact is we don't live in a perfect world, and my latest escrow statement on my home is proof of that. The real truth is that taxes are like a battle in war - when someone retreats from the front line, someone else falls into that line, and takes their place. Case in point? Virtually all of the property tax savings that I got from the state have been swallowed back up in local property taxes.
Granted, I will never the balls to say that I am overtaxed on my house, but when they go up like they just did, I worry about the direction my County and City governments are headed. Here's the poop. I used to pay about $300 a year in property tax - nice. When the state gave homeowners relief, and put more of the burden on non-property owners, my tax bill went down to $182 last year. The locals didn't have enough time to react last year, but they sure came back with a vengeance in 2010. This year, my tax bill went back up to $261, which is a 43.6% INCREASE in ONE YEAR ....... BTW, my homeowners insurance also went up by about 15% on a house that I've never put a claim on in ten years, along with my car insurance on a vehicle that loses value year after year, yet the premium never goes down..... But, that's another story.
Now, I know my city taxes are included with my county taxes, so exactly where these increases are coming from, I'm not sure yet. But, the process is as timeless as taxes are themselves - whenever a gap is left in citizens' taxes, another form of government will slide right in, and start collecting that gap. The truth is, taxes NEVER go down - they just get realigned. If the bill is about the same as it used to be, we see it as no increase. But trust me, your taxes just went up. A lot.... This is primarily why I don't support hairbrain plans like FairTax. Getting rid of income taxes will just motivate someone else to start collecting them instead.
I gotta go - I have some insurance quotes I need to get......
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5 comments:
Mike-it is the county portion of your taxes that increased, our most esteemed county council members voted that little present on us in the middle of this depression. And guess what?? This is an election year so we can tell them what we think of them in June and November...teg
It isn't city. The millage increase to pay for the fire station and cops doesn't go into effect until next year. FWIW, its my understanding that the city rates are so low, you get credit towards the county right now. I believe the numbers were such that even a drastic percentage increase would be only a small amount on homeowners bills.
Any wonder at the initials of the Local Option Sales Tax?
Plu-I don't know what you call a small amount, but my personal home went from $300 to $430 or 43%. Any way you try to cut it a 43% increase is a rather large increase to justify..teg
I don't know what resulted in that for you TEG, but it wasn't City of Florence taxes. When we looked at the millage rates, it came down to city millage rates being at something like 1970s level, which is ridiculously low if you factor in the expansion the city has seen in that time. Then again, they had been getting away with it by keeping public services like cops and the fire sevices at equally low levels, which was shortsighted and dangerous. The current council has addressed that to some degree, but their changes won't come into effect until next year.
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