whats the point of property tax?
- Thread starter GetRichInPorn
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Weird post - so property taxes covers all those minor items out there like Public Education, roads, police, local towns and cities, maintenance and upkeep, public works, libraries, etc, etc, etc.
If you do not want to own a house because of the extremely minimal chance of emminent domain or because you dont want to pay property taxes (which you can write off), then simply rent someone's place. Easy choice.
If you want to live somewhere with no government and no taxes - America is probably not the ideal place for you!
Now I am not saying what the government does with tax revenue is efficient or even smart, but that is another argument.
If you do not want to own a house because of the extremely minimal chance of emminent domain or because you dont want to pay property taxes (which you can write off), then simply rent someone's place. Easy choice.
If you want to live somewhere with no government and no taxes - America is probably not the ideal place for you!
Now I am not saying what the government does with tax revenue is efficient or even smart, but that is another argument.
At first I thought you were contradicting, but then was glad to see some people agree.
My Sr. year of high school I remember kids taking 5 our of nine 9 periods a day taking "Study Hall" all the mean time being unable to change a tire, file a simple tax form, change oil, balance books, cook (anything), or any worthwhile life skills.
American education Elementary, Middle, High & Collegiate is a joke.
Only good thing are Trade Schools and people who do some shit on their own.
Actually, even when you rent you pay property taxes. It's factored into your rent. So the only way to minimize the money you give your city is to live in a smaller place or a shittier area of town.
Don't move to NH then. We would add another .5% onto your property tax rate.
BUT, no sales tax and no income tax has it's benefits.
We have a property tax rate in TX that is higher than most as well but it's definitely worth it when you consider no state income tax here either. And as long as real estate prices here are low compared to both coasts, the higher rates don't wipe us out as much.
HarveyJ
He is - THE CACTUS!
And this is why I rent 
Anyway, it just hit me why I don't have a problem paying taxes... My tax money isn't as badly wasted as the average US citizens'.
Seriously, some of you guys should really consider moving here. It's pretty sweet, and when you do start paying taxes, even though they're higher, you do get a feeling of value for money (unless you drive on the freeway extensions).
Anyway, it just hit me why I don't have a problem paying taxes... My tax money isn't as badly wasted as the average US citizens'.
Seriously, some of you guys should really consider moving here. It's pretty sweet, and when you do start paying taxes, even though they're higher, you do get a feeling of value for money (unless you drive on the freeway extensions).
Unless you're not a permanent resident yet in which case you get to pay taxes but don't get any medicare benefits or education benefitsAnd this is why I rent
Anyway, it just hit me why I don't have a problem paying taxes... My tax money isn't as badly wasted as the average US citizens'.
Seriously, some of you guys should really consider moving here. It's pretty sweet, and when you do start paying taxes, even though they're higher, you do get a feeling of value for money (unless you drive on the freeway extensions).
But yeah, really you people need to either suck it up or move. Taxes aren't theft, they pay for the shit you all take for granted. They're a part of living in a civilized society.
HarveyJ
He is - THE CACTUS!
Hannah: Become a resident. All the benefits without having to vote. The tragic thing is that you'll get extra application points if you say you're going to become a hairdresser (I'm not joking, apparently we have too many skilled people and not enough people doing menial jobs).
I dont have a problem with it own many homes. but back in 1995 I saw many old people lose there homes in seattle they had for over 30 years because the real estate market there became very desirable and they couldnt afford the property tax increas so they all had to sell there homes.
Peronally I think thats not right
I live downtown Toronto, Canada and bought my apartment for 710k (CAD) and my property taxes are about 6k a year. I seriously hate taxes, income tax is 42%, corporate tax is 18%, sales tax is 14%, it never ends. If I make 100k it works out like this:
100k - 18% = 82k
Out of that 82k I decide I want to pay myself 60k and leave 22k in the business.
60k - 42% = 34.8k
So the government has taken 43.2k out of my 100k net profit at the corporal level and that doesnt even factor in sales tax, property tax, and every other tax the government screws you on. To top it off, there's line ups at the hospital, pot holes in the roads, university tuition is out the roof and unsolved murders/rapes/assaults all the time. Thats a FAIL.
100k - 18% = 82k
Out of that 82k I decide I want to pay myself 60k and leave 22k in the business.
60k - 42% = 34.8k
So the government has taken 43.2k out of my 100k net profit at the corporal level and that doesnt even factor in sales tax, property tax, and every other tax the government screws you on. To top it off, there's line ups at the hospital, pot holes in the roads, university tuition is out the roof and unsolved murders/rapes/assaults all the time. Thats a FAIL.
And this is why I rent
Anyway, it just hit me why I don't have a problem paying taxes... My tax money isn't as badly wasted as the average US citizens'.
Seriously, some of you guys should really consider moving here. It's pretty sweet, and when you do start paying taxes, even though they're higher, you do get a feeling of value for money (unless you drive on the freeway extensions).
No thanks! I would revolt if I had to pay a toliet flushing tax
Australia toilet tax - the first of many ? | NowPublic News Coverage
HarveyJ
He is - THE CACTUS!
1) Why the fuck would you move to a hole like Perth if you were coming to Australia?
2) It's not a tax. It's just that Murdoch run newspaper's love to call any state owned utility a tax. Water Corporation (the amazingly unimaginative name the Perth Gov gave the waterworks) is majority state owned still. Ergo, it's not actually a tax, merely a usage charge being levied for actual consumption, as opposed to the previous usage estimate charges based on the neighbourhood usage stats. Some people's water bills will actually go down.
Melbourne and Sydney used to be the same until the water was entirely privatized... Water was also a shitload cheaper when the price was mandated by the government, because you didn't get circular logic driving up the costs.
Anecdote time: Water is scarce in Australia, and the East coast has had less harvested rainfall each year for the last 8 years. With that logic, the various water companies in Victoria decided to charge more per kiloliter to reflect the cost of the water. So people started to conserve water. So they started charging more per kiloliter unless people used over a certain amount of water (WTF? Incentive to use more water?!). So people started using more water again, and now things are REALLY fucked and instead of encouraging people to buy tanks and recycs, a desalinisation plant is being built by a consortium of all the water companies... So the cost of water is going up again to pay for the plant, and may go up again when it comes online to pay for costs and maintenance. In the meantime, there's a government owned sewerage treatment plant that could potentially provide water of a quality good enough for agricultural and industrial use, but that's all going out to sea, because the water companies activiely lobbied against recyc water claiming it could be hazardous to people's health (except that we're not meant to be fucking drinking it!)
So which sounds better?
A tax levied against actual usage? Or having the cost of water go up for whatever reason private companies can conjure up?
Property taxes do pay for education - corporate property taxes especially are what fund most of education since our fair government continues to pass initiatives without funding them.
I live in an area that has high property taxes. There are additional taxes charged by the school district. I moved here deliberately and am happy to pay them. My children will go to a public school that is known nationally and has name recognition with major universities. A full 85% of the 3,000+ students are university bound. The average across the state is closer to 25% of students in a high school.
It works like this: High property taxes, especially school district taxes, generally correlate to a desirable school district. Those who live there vote the higher tax rates in to improve the schools. Local public schools are one of the most important factors in home values. People who value education and family want to live there, so they pay accordingly. Despite the "housing slump" home in my area are still gaining in value and sell in less than a week thanks to the schools. This is not true only a few miles in any direction.
If you don't have kids, and don't want to pay for a powerful school district, don't live in one. Of course, you can expect your neighbors to be childless (which is probably desirable to those who don't understand children) or to be the kind of parents who have no clue as to how, don't have the means or don't have the desire to provide the best education for their children. BTW - in most areas, private school teachers are less qualified than public school teachers, you can thank the government for that one as well.
The quality of public schools has some to do with the quality of teachers, but much more to do with the quality of parents. If the parents of students within the school demand excellent teaching - it happens. If they can't get their shit together to find a "good" school with "good" teachers, teachers will do the best they can or do enough to get by since it must be good enough to satisfy the parents and other adults who have no clue how public schools really work.
Schools are a business that can not reject a single piece of inventory - no matter how flawed it is. Public schools are one of the few institutions that have this requirement and they do the best they can. The quality of the school is a product of parental support, "raw materials" and funding to meet all of the demands of the government and parents. If parents make demands they are usually pretty good about paying for them, i.e. higher property taxes.
The rest of your property taxes I know relatively little about, but I know a bit about how public schools work.
Oh, and my children don't cry in restaurants either. Again - look to the parents and the quality of parenting in the area you're in.
I live in an area that has high property taxes. There are additional taxes charged by the school district. I moved here deliberately and am happy to pay them. My children will go to a public school that is known nationally and has name recognition with major universities. A full 85% of the 3,000+ students are university bound. The average across the state is closer to 25% of students in a high school.
It works like this: High property taxes, especially school district taxes, generally correlate to a desirable school district. Those who live there vote the higher tax rates in to improve the schools. Local public schools are one of the most important factors in home values. People who value education and family want to live there, so they pay accordingly. Despite the "housing slump" home in my area are still gaining in value and sell in less than a week thanks to the schools. This is not true only a few miles in any direction.
If you don't have kids, and don't want to pay for a powerful school district, don't live in one. Of course, you can expect your neighbors to be childless (which is probably desirable to those who don't understand children) or to be the kind of parents who have no clue as to how, don't have the means or don't have the desire to provide the best education for their children. BTW - in most areas, private school teachers are less qualified than public school teachers, you can thank the government for that one as well.
The quality of public schools has some to do with the quality of teachers, but much more to do with the quality of parents. If the parents of students within the school demand excellent teaching - it happens. If they can't get their shit together to find a "good" school with "good" teachers, teachers will do the best they can or do enough to get by since it must be good enough to satisfy the parents and other adults who have no clue how public schools really work.
Schools are a business that can not reject a single piece of inventory - no matter how flawed it is. Public schools are one of the few institutions that have this requirement and they do the best they can. The quality of the school is a product of parental support, "raw materials" and funding to meet all of the demands of the government and parents. If parents make demands they are usually pretty good about paying for them, i.e. higher property taxes.
The rest of your property taxes I know relatively little about, but I know a bit about how public schools work.
Oh, and my children don't cry in restaurants either. Again - look to the parents and the quality of parenting in the area you're in.
lol if i was going to equate public school to a business while talking about how we pay for it, I'd equate it to a SERVICE not a retailer. When you're paying through the nose for a SERVICE and the company is under-performing, people have every right to complain. Paying more does not necessarily mean better service.
Indeed.
People complain about monopolies, but they insist upon monopolies when it comes to civil defense (police), fire protection, courts, schools etc.
The reason why we have a market free or not, is to determine what the best of several options are. Democracy, as horribly flawed as it is, is a political market. The problem is, it has a monopoly outcome. 51% can boss 49% around. When you factor in minor parties, 46% can boss 54% around in a republic.
We don't bid all keywords equally, and we don't run every campaign with the same energy or investment. We discriminate and discard the losers.
That doesn't happen in schools. There are teachers who have beaten children, and because their union is a big voting block, and super powerful, these dangerous people continue to influence young minds.
If you have an open mind, enjoy good writing (hint, Internet Author) and want to challenge your preconceptions, this short article is very intriguing.
What If Public Schools Were Abolished?
When you have a monopoly, you pay more for less. Most monopolies are products of state regulation.
Even if they were decent, there is no good reason to reject competition and favor monopoly.
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