"[I}f the City were collecting the same amount from everybody whose house has the same value...", If the city were to collect the same amount from everybody whose house has the same value, the City would have legions of people who would be forced to move because they could no longer afford to pay the property tax. A person who paid $50,000 for their house in the 1960's or '70's would now have to pay the same tax as someone who last year paid $500,000 for the house next door. The person who paid current market value would presumably have the financial ability to pay. That cannot be assumed about longterm homeowners. And longterm homeowners should not be forced to choose between providing for their families, and paying an exhorbitant property tax. Property values have already been artifically driven up. Those banks who essentially gave away mortgage money to unqualified buyers did the equivalent of pumping helium into the housing bubble. Apart from creating the current foreclosure crisis, the banks also brought legions of new buyers into the housing market to compete for a finite supply of housing, creating additional demand, and thus higher prices, that would not have otherwise existed had those buyers been rejected for mortgages. So on top of that mess, existing homeowners should now be expected to pay higher property taxes based on inflated home prices. This illustrates why value is the least reliable basis for determining a tax, because it is relative, and can be easily manipulated. Should there be an across-the-board standard for calculating property taxes? Absolutely. Should "value" be the standard? Absolutely not. Why are "equity" and "value" being treated as synonymous, when a tax based on an ever-fluctuating property "value" would only lead to economic hardship or the potential for people to lose their homes?
From: mlam...@aol.comdate: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 10:55:05 -0500Subject: Re: [UC] Taxation and the librariesTo: glen...@earthlink.net; univc...@list.purple.comglenn,I totally agree that straightening out the ridiculous tax assessment situation will not happen in time to help the libraries. I don't understand why Nutter doesn't back down and say "the people have spoken; we'll have to find that $8 million somewhere else and keep the libraries open." He's allowing this standoff to damage his previously stellar reputation, for an amount so small (relatively) that it's barely noticeable in the billion dollar budget gap coming up. My original thought was that the fate of the libraries is now in the hands of City Council, and they haven't even been able to move the city forward on equitable property taxes, given YEARS to work on it - so we'd better not hold our breath here. And if the City were collecting the same amount from everybody whose house has the same value, maybe we wouldn't be $8 million short.- MelaniMelani Lamond, Associate BrokerUrban & Bye, RealtorPA License Number AB048377L3529 Lancaster Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19104cell phone 215-356-7266 - office phone 215-222-4800 #113**************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)
