The Tax Man Cometh...

[jonr]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

As a life long conservative.....I've now changed my tune. We need a sales tax........We have lost 3 retired homeowners on my road alone who could not afford the huge increases on waterfront property.Please keep in mind,these are not wealthy people,just ordinary folks that happened to buy on the lake many years ago.Oh,I know,their property has grown in value,but what good is that to them? They don't want to sell,just live their remaining years in the home the've lived in all of their lives.

What good is it to them? Well there are a number of ways to monitize the increase in your homes value. There are convential mortgages, home equity lines, and reverse mortgages (which require no payments during your lifetime).

If values increase then you have la lot of equity to tap to pay the increased tax. If your house increases by $1000 and you only need to monitize $10 to $20 to pay the taxes (depending upon the town).

But the assessments are only one issue. If everyone's assesment doubles and spending is the same then your taxes don't change. If some properties increase more or less than others that will shift the tax burden to the properties that increase more. If spending increases 20% then without additional revenue agregrate taxes need to increase 20%.