Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Property Taxes in North Dakota

What a whacky idea- that the state could take your WHOLE property if you didn't pay a tax on it every year.  Basically it meant that you could NEVER own, free and clear, any property, no matter how long you lived on it or how much you paid the state and the school district.  THEY own it.  You just are passing through.  Wouldn't it be more fair to fight over the amount, rather than the state having the power to seize the whole thing if you are a dollar short?  Shouldn't the taxes END at some point, say after you pay for 20, 30, or 40 years on a place?  Where's the social justice?  Property taxes have grown to where Americans currently pay more in taxes than morgage every year.  That's mind-boggling.

  I'm not in favor of abolishing them, just ending them after you own a place free and clear or have paid for a few decades or you reach a certain age.  And if you don't pay them the fight should be over those dollars, not your whole place.  I know it would be a mess...but it's a mess NOW out of balance in favor of the guys in the leather chairs downtown who run the whole shebang.  They already give exemptions and set asides and grandfathering....so they can't pretend like the system isn't already compromised.  The big users of property taxes are the schools.  Add a user tax and let the folks who USE the schools PAY the most, (not all), and bring some social justice to the culture.

Here's a reform list in bullet points:

1. Penalties in a dispute ought to be the amount owed, not the title to the property in question.

2. Property owned for 25+ years by the same person to be removed from the tax rolls.

3. Citizens over 80 shall not pay property tax.

Presto: social justice and fairness, common sense and balance brought to the system!

# CAUTION: Second story linked above is via the New York Times.  I cannot vouch for factual accuracy, hidden political agenda or even grammar.

  

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I live in Dallas TX, when the owner of a privet property reaches 65 years of age the property taxes are lowered, I am 71 years old and only paid .65 cents last year. but your idea sounds like a very good one. it would be nice to see,lets get busy and start bugging the state reps.
Sincerely Frank

Paul said...

We don't need a property tax. SALES TAX. That way if you buy alot, you pay alot. Buy little, pay little.

And yes, property taxes are there just so they can take you land. All they have to do is value it so high you can't pay the tax.

Anonymous said...

The property tax is an outdated relic of our former agrarian society. The land was what created your wealth that could be taxed to support the local roads, etc. A lot has changed over the centuries. The source of revenue to fund gov't needs to change also.