--- In LibertarianEnterprise@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > while the cost of the property may be minimal, > no tax authority that I ever heard of ever lowered > its valuation of a property within its jurisdiction. >
In the County where I live, we are taxed at "Just Value", which they also claim is called "Market Value". That includes such factors as "Highest and Best Use" even though you may not choose to build condominiums on your land. The only exception is land that is provably being used to grow crops for sale. A new Law caps the Increase in valuation at 3% per year. There is no way that there will ever be a Decrease. In some places owners of individual parcels can apply for a "property tax abatement". In places like Texas it is almost impossible to satisfy the requirements for an abatement, but in New Hampshire Abatements are granted at the whim of the Town Government. That means that, when (not if - When) libertarians take over a New Hampshire Town Government, they will be able to grant EVERYONE a Tax Abatement, reducing the assessed value of the property to one dollar. Another advantage of New Hampshire over the system in places like Texas is that the NH Town's assessment will apply to ALL Property Taxes, whether Town, County, School District, or State! In Texas an Abatement granted by a Town is good only for that Town's Taxes; other Taxing Authorities can do their own Valuations. When libertarians grant Tax Abatements for everyone in their Town, no one can change it. The only one with standing to Appeal is the Property Owner himself, and the only time he can Appeal is in the case where the Abatement is NOT granted! HAHAHAHAHA The guys who set this up never considered the possibility that a Town might try to HELP their residents rather than steal as much as possible from them. Thus in the not-too-distant future, there WILL be a Town that lowers Property Valuations. Not the Valuations directly (that is set by a process that the Town cannot alter), but by the subsequent Tax Abatements. http://freetownproject.com/new_hampshire_town.html
