Hi folks, this time it's a letter-to-the-editor (two letters, in fact: They're trying to get ahead of me) that is prompting me to write. This is my fourth blog on the subject and I would like to retire my pen on this subject, but as long as the opponents, in other words 'the-POWERS-that be,' keep coming out against eliminating property taxes, then I have to address their concerns, or at least add more fodder to our cause.
The first letter is from a bureaucrat. Here's the headline: "Understand the facts, not rumors about foreclosures..." The headline also named the county but I left it out, as this bureaucrat wrote an interesting letter. The thing is, I'm not attacking him, but the spinning in his letter. And I will use a few quotes. "....taking an occupied residence is extremely rare." "Sometimes...the property is over-valued--we then ask the assessor...to take another look." (The words I'm leaving out are just "filler" words.) So why didn't the assessor get it right the first time? I'll tell you why. He/she is probably personally all right financially, hasn't seen poverty for a long time (if ever) and has lost touch with the common folk--oh, and also he/she is likely under orders to sock it to them homeowners for every dime possible!
Then this bureaucrat says most of the properties actually taken were "...vacant lots or lots with buildings that either needed to be demolished or rebuilt." But still, that property was owned by somebody who maybe had an unfullfilled dream about it.
The last thing I will mention is one more spinning-out-of-control quote: The county will accept "payments of any size." In other words, the homeowner by now is probably so far behind that those "payments" will be going toward only the accrued interest. But the county will continue getting money from this poor, willing, sap.
Sorry, bureaucrat, if this response upsets you, but you wrote your letter as an opponent to eliminating property taxes, and I responded as a proponent.
The second letter is from just a regular guy like me, actually far beyond me, as he volunteers with fire and rescue, and I honor him for doing so. But still here is the headline: "Measure 2 supporters have no clue about its effects on rural services" What got me there was the "no clue." I'm not going to go after this guy, as his concern is money for those services, but, hey, guy, you'll get your money. As I said in another blog: Money will continue to flow, and government money grows on trees--haven't you heard?
Thanks, folks. This will all be over on June 2, 2012. June 2 and November can't come soon enough for me.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
More on Property Taxes, Etc.
An article headline from The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota, 4-17-2012, "(I won't name the town) passes ipad2 plan for school." Subhead: "School board OKs $595K initiative for 900 students to get own devices." That's $595,000.00, folks. Just in case everyone doesn't know what "K" means.
So where will that money come from?
Well, the school...right? The school will pay for it. But where does the school get it's money? Uhh, dhh, I don't know. Well, if you have kids and don't own a home, you maybe don't know. That money will come from homeowners paying property taxes. And if the school doesn't have enough bucks in their account they'll ask the county tax assessors to go out and reassess homeowner's properties. Will those homeowners have a choice about it? Well, no, they'll have to pay the tax or, eventually, get out. Sometimes the schools (or interested parties--I don't exactly know how it's done, but I know it's done) will approach the local government and get it on the ballot. The citizens get to vote for or against.
But guess what: It doesn't always stop there. The citizens can vote down the initiative, but then the schools or the "interested" parties will go out and get their signatures again and get it back on the ballot again, and again, and again, until they get their way.
I'd like to quote the superintendent of that school, and he does have a point, but I think he's sending a very bad message to our youth. Here's the quote: "...the future of education likely isn't tied to print textbooks, pen-and-paper quizzes or other traditional school trappings." That's just one sentence. He said more, but there's no point in me recopying more.
So what's the bad message he's sending our youth? Pretty much that tradition is dead. No more pens and pencils, paper, penmanship, books where one can actually turn physical pages...one can just get everything from a TOUCH screen. Well, one can get a lot from computers, I'm not saying that's a bad idea, but I am saying that we need to keep the hand basics alive too.
But what I'm really saying is that homeowners shoud not have to get their taxes raised in order that every kid can have an ipad2. Parents should make that purchase, or, maybe the school should buy just a few that the kids can "use" while in school. But it sounds like the school will just hand them over to do with as they will.
Another interesting article appeared in that same issue. The headline: "Gov tells agencies to hold steady" The subhead: "Dalrymple: We must act as 'good stewards of the people's money.' "That's Governor Jack Dalrymple of the state of North Dakota. Good for you, Governor, you stand for what's right, so I hope you can pull it off, because, yes, it is the people's money.
What, exactly was he talking about? This isn't a quote; it's what the article said: "...directed state agencies to develop "hold-even" budgets...and to suggest spending reductions of 3% in case savings are needed." The Governor really had me until "...in case..."
I won't go any farther into that article but will get back to my opinion: Why not suggest savings all the time? Why can't extra money go into savings accounts? (Hopefully an honest bank, or maybe a credit union.) Why? I'll tell you why. Because if these agencies and bureaus and whatever and whatever don't spend their entire budget they won't get the same amount next year. So arises the local pork barrel.
This brings us back to property taxes. The more money the "whatever" places get, the more they spend, and then need property tax increases to keep paying for the sometimes-unnecessary programs they created when they had excess money.
It's a maddening cycle that needs to stop.
Force these bureaucrats and school boards to learn real budget management. People of North Dakota, vote to eliminate property taxes and lead the other states to eliminate theirs.
It can be done.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Home Owners Unite Against Property Taxes
An interesting article appeared in The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota, April 14, 2012, about property taxes in one county of Minnesota. (Yes, I’m from North Dakota, but property taxes are property taxes.) Here is the headline: “Becker residents see hefty tax hike”
When the bureaucrats certified the rate to Becker County, “…we certified it incorrectly, so we recertified it and they didn’t catch it.” (I don’t know, are county government workers called bureaucrats?) (And another thing: Who is the “they” they are referring to, who didn’t catch it?)
But the county is making up for it. What homeowners didn’t pay last year they have to pay this year. In other words, the bureaucrats can F*^% things up, and the homeowners have to pay for their mistakes.
Here’s a quote from one of the bureaucrats: “It’s unfortunate when it happens, but they didn’t pay it last year so they got an easy year.” (I suppose when facing the media--and one doesn't get a few moments to think of something politically-correct [or at least more acceptable, like he/she even cares about less financially-fortunate homeowners...,] one has to say something.)
“Unfortunate,” right. But there’s never an “easy” year when you are paying rent to the county to live in your own home.
Those people, the people who work in that lucrative trade of property taxes, they have a huge power over us homeowners: Need more money? Just raise property taxes. Make them pay. Sock it to them! Pay or get out of your home!
I don’t mean to be picking on the bureaucrats of Minnesota, as I’m sure property tax bureaucrats are the same nationwide…I wonder how they sleep at night…? After those sheriffs’ auctions—and they’ve been guaranteed their money—probably pretty well.
(That’s right, a person’s home can be bought just by paying the overdue taxes, which can probably be a pretty large amount sometimes, but think of it: What you worked for all your life can disappear that quickly.)
At the end I will say again: Homeowners should not have to pay rent to live in their own home, we should not have to keep buying it over and over and over.
HOMEOWNERS UNITE! VOTE TO ELIMINATE PROPERTY TAXES. NORTH DAKOTA WILL LEAD THE CHARGE.
Thanks folks
(Just as a side note, I read one time about property taxes being included in mortgage payments. I asked a so-called professional person about that. He didn’t know. It appeared that he didn’t even know he was paying taxes, and for sure didn’t know how much. He was that controlled by ‘The Powers That Be.’ So now I’m wondering how many homeowners with mortgages do not know that…?)
When the bureaucrats certified the rate to Becker County, “…we certified it incorrectly, so we recertified it and they didn’t catch it.” (I don’t know, are county government workers called bureaucrats?) (And another thing: Who is the “they” they are referring to, who didn’t catch it?)
But the county is making up for it. What homeowners didn’t pay last year they have to pay this year. In other words, the bureaucrats can F*^% things up, and the homeowners have to pay for their mistakes.
Here’s a quote from one of the bureaucrats: “It’s unfortunate when it happens, but they didn’t pay it last year so they got an easy year.” (I suppose when facing the media--and one doesn't get a few moments to think of something politically-correct [or at least more acceptable, like he/she even cares about less financially-fortunate homeowners...,] one has to say something.)
“Unfortunate,” right. But there’s never an “easy” year when you are paying rent to the county to live in your own home.
Those people, the people who work in that lucrative trade of property taxes, they have a huge power over us homeowners: Need more money? Just raise property taxes. Make them pay. Sock it to them! Pay or get out of your home!
I don’t mean to be picking on the bureaucrats of Minnesota, as I’m sure property tax bureaucrats are the same nationwide…I wonder how they sleep at night…? After those sheriffs’ auctions—and they’ve been guaranteed their money—probably pretty well.
(That’s right, a person’s home can be bought just by paying the overdue taxes, which can probably be a pretty large amount sometimes, but think of it: What you worked for all your life can disappear that quickly.)
At the end I will say again: Homeowners should not have to pay rent to live in their own home, we should not have to keep buying it over and over and over.
HOMEOWNERS UNITE! VOTE TO ELIMINATE PROPERTY TAXES. NORTH DAKOTA WILL LEAD THE CHARGE.
Thanks folks
(Just as a side note, I read one time about property taxes being included in mortgage payments. I asked a so-called professional person about that. He didn’t know. It appeared that he didn’t even know he was paying taxes, and for sure didn’t know how much. He was that controlled by ‘The Powers That Be.’ So now I’m wondering how many homeowners with mortgages do not know that…?)
Friday, April 13, 2012
Property Taxes
Some love’em, some hate’em.
Right now a battle rages in North Dakota about property taxes. The proponents found enough signatures to get it on the June 2012 ballot. Good for them. We will have the option of voting to continue to allow the county tax assessor to come to our home and charge us for living there, and later taking our home from us if we can’t pay the taxes (I don’t know how long a homeowner can go without paying taxes. In North Dakota it used to be five years, but the interest that builds up is atrocious. Anyway, after that period of time passes the county can send the sheriff and auction
off your home) or we can vote to eliminate property taxes altogether.
The people we have elected to govern us can figure out a new system to support schools, etc. That’s what we pay them for, to figure things out.
The opponents scream that the counties, townships, fire departments, etc., and especially the schools will have no money. Not quite true. Money will continue to flow. Government money grows on trees—haven’t you heard?
Who are the opponents? The Chambers of Commerce for one, but mostly it’s the ‘powers that be.’ They don’t want to have to learn to change, and they don’t want the state to take over a gazillion local budgets. In fact, the main regional newspaper came out with an editorial that pretty much told us proponents that we are wrong: The editorial said something to the effect that the blockheads in Bismarck won’t be able to figure it out, and, mostly, we just don’t want such decisions to be taken away from local control.
Right. It’s better to let the ‘local’ blockheads figure things out. Well, locally, they don’t figure anything out, they just raise taxes: Pay or get out.
I know of at least two occasions where local school districts got a raise of taxes on their local ballot: The school wanted more money for…whatever. Their request was soundly defeated by the voters, and not just once but up to four times, before the school district finally got their wishes fulfilled. Like some fairy godmother waving a wand: They got their wishes ‘fulfilled.’ (Then the district brought back programs that they couldn’t afford. Go figure.)
It truly seems like quite a scam to me: Instead of tightening one’s belt and learning something about budgeting, like homeowners have to do, if whatever local entity wants more money, just ask the county to go out and reassess the value of all the homes in the district.
In other words, “Sock it to those homeowners…if they don’t pay we’ll take their house and sell it…we’ll get our money one way or another.
Again, I will call property taxes a scam. Homeowners should not have to pay “rent” on their own home. After it’s paid for they should not have to KEEP paying.
So, let this rebellion of homeowners begin here in North Dakota. Homeowners in other states will take notice, and when we are victorious eliminating property taxes they will follow:
Homeowners unite!
Right now a battle rages in North Dakota about property taxes. The proponents found enough signatures to get it on the June 2012 ballot. Good for them. We will have the option of voting to continue to allow the county tax assessor to come to our home and charge us for living there, and later taking our home from us if we can’t pay the taxes (I don’t know how long a homeowner can go without paying taxes. In North Dakota it used to be five years, but the interest that builds up is atrocious. Anyway, after that period of time passes the county can send the sheriff and auction
off your home) or we can vote to eliminate property taxes altogether.
The people we have elected to govern us can figure out a new system to support schools, etc. That’s what we pay them for, to figure things out.
The opponents scream that the counties, townships, fire departments, etc., and especially the schools will have no money. Not quite true. Money will continue to flow. Government money grows on trees—haven’t you heard?
Who are the opponents? The Chambers of Commerce for one, but mostly it’s the ‘powers that be.’ They don’t want to have to learn to change, and they don’t want the state to take over a gazillion local budgets. In fact, the main regional newspaper came out with an editorial that pretty much told us proponents that we are wrong: The editorial said something to the effect that the blockheads in Bismarck won’t be able to figure it out, and, mostly, we just don’t want such decisions to be taken away from local control.
Right. It’s better to let the ‘local’ blockheads figure things out. Well, locally, they don’t figure anything out, they just raise taxes: Pay or get out.
I know of at least two occasions where local school districts got a raise of taxes on their local ballot: The school wanted more money for…whatever. Their request was soundly defeated by the voters, and not just once but up to four times, before the school district finally got their wishes fulfilled. Like some fairy godmother waving a wand: They got their wishes ‘fulfilled.’ (Then the district brought back programs that they couldn’t afford. Go figure.)
It truly seems like quite a scam to me: Instead of tightening one’s belt and learning something about budgeting, like homeowners have to do, if whatever local entity wants more money, just ask the county to go out and reassess the value of all the homes in the district.
In other words, “Sock it to those homeowners…if they don’t pay we’ll take their house and sell it…we’ll get our money one way or another.
Again, I will call property taxes a scam. Homeowners should not have to pay “rent” on their own home. After it’s paid for they should not have to KEEP paying.
So, let this rebellion of homeowners begin here in North Dakota. Homeowners in other states will take notice, and when we are victorious eliminating property taxes they will follow:
Homeowners unite!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
A Critic!
For people who have read this previously, there's an update on the bottom.
April 11, 2012. Just received a really bad--I mean Bad!—review on one of my novels at Amazon: Winter in July, the second novel I wrote. He/she called my main character, Kirby Yates, the protagonist ‘pathetic’ (so 'pathetic' that he/she found it hard to keep reading) and later called him a 'cry baby.' He/she called my character laughable. He/she said he/she would deplete his/her own library and every public library for a radius of 200 miles before he/she would read this novel again. But it does sound like he/she would read it again.
Well, folks, that hurt.
Sure, at one point in the novel Kirby did cry, but also, he had just seen his girlfriend get blinded by the flash from a nuclear bomb blast, and that huge sliding three-feet-thick door had just closed, leaving her outside, and then there was a series of nuclear blasts that—in Kirby’s mind—must have destroyed the whole countryside. So, yes, he cried. Wouldn’t you have? And then later, Kirby breaks out of the bomb shelter. He finds his girlfriend blinded but still alive. In the distance he sees dozens of mushroom clouds rising and blotting out the sun, so, yes, he's scared. The future for himself and his girlfriend does not look good.
So, who is this Amazon reader who did me such a service? Well, like many people writing online, he/she goes by a profile name that is gender neutral. And, in respect for his/her privacy, I
won’t name the name. I mean, this person talks-the-talk, but, by not identifying himself/herself, he/she is not really walking-the-walk.
Also, his/her profile picture is just the outline of a head, which could be either male or female. I don’t take much stock in people like that, who give not a clue to their identity. He/she could even be someone I know.
The thing is, yes, I can take criticism; each of us can learn from a good critique, but this one just cut me deeply. He/she gave me a scathingly-bad review. It even hurt my feelings. I even feel that if he/she were to see this very first post on my blog that he/she would be happy to have hurt my feelings.
Enough, it could go either way. The bad review could make even more people want to read my novel, just to see if they agree. Or, I might find out that many, many, more, people think Kirby Yates is 'pathetic.'
There is a spot next to this harsh review where someone else can respond to that particular review. Here is my author page where one can go there instantly: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004GW465S
Good or bad, I hope somebody does. Thanks for reading, folks!
CONTACT
nelsonjim1@live.com
http://morningshinestories.com
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004GW465S
https://www.facebook.com/#!/james.w.nelson2
Since I first posted this about six weeks ago I've received three more really bad reviews on my novel, Winter in July, and, BTW, I listed it only as nuclear war drama; I never called it a thriller, which seems to be the main complaint. So, if you take the time to read the bad reviews, please also read the three 5-star reviews. Also, all three 5-star-reviewers gave their full name.
Please especially read the review from Kurt Stallings of Fort Worth, Texas. He saw in my book just exactly what I was trying to portray.
Again, folks, thanks for reading!
April 11, 2012. Just received a really bad--I mean Bad!—review on one of my novels at Amazon: Winter in July, the second novel I wrote. He/she called my main character, Kirby Yates, the protagonist ‘pathetic’ (so 'pathetic' that he/she found it hard to keep reading) and later called him a 'cry baby.' He/she called my character laughable. He/she said he/she would deplete his/her own library and every public library for a radius of 200 miles before he/she would read this novel again. But it does sound like he/she would read it again.
Well, folks, that hurt.
Sure, at one point in the novel Kirby did cry, but also, he had just seen his girlfriend get blinded by the flash from a nuclear bomb blast, and that huge sliding three-feet-thick door had just closed, leaving her outside, and then there was a series of nuclear blasts that—in Kirby’s mind—must have destroyed the whole countryside. So, yes, he cried. Wouldn’t you have? And then later, Kirby breaks out of the bomb shelter. He finds his girlfriend blinded but still alive. In the distance he sees dozens of mushroom clouds rising and blotting out the sun, so, yes, he's scared. The future for himself and his girlfriend does not look good.
So, who is this Amazon reader who did me such a service? Well, like many people writing online, he/she goes by a profile name that is gender neutral. And, in respect for his/her privacy, I
won’t name the name. I mean, this person talks-the-talk, but, by not identifying himself/herself, he/she is not really walking-the-walk.
Also, his/her profile picture is just the outline of a head, which could be either male or female. I don’t take much stock in people like that, who give not a clue to their identity. He/she could even be someone I know.
The thing is, yes, I can take criticism; each of us can learn from a good critique, but this one just cut me deeply. He/she gave me a scathingly-bad review. It even hurt my feelings. I even feel that if he/she were to see this very first post on my blog that he/she would be happy to have hurt my feelings.
Enough, it could go either way. The bad review could make even more people want to read my novel, just to see if they agree. Or, I might find out that many, many, more, people think Kirby Yates is 'pathetic.'
There is a spot next to this harsh review where someone else can respond to that particular review. Here is my author page where one can go there instantly: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004GW465S
Good or bad, I hope somebody does. Thanks for reading, folks!
CONTACT
nelsonjim1@live.com
http://morningshinestories.com
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004GW465S
https://www.facebook.com/#!/james.w.nelson2
Since I first posted this about six weeks ago I've received three more really bad reviews on my novel, Winter in July, and, BTW, I listed it only as nuclear war drama; I never called it a thriller, which seems to be the main complaint. So, if you take the time to read the bad reviews, please also read the three 5-star reviews. Also, all three 5-star-reviewers gave their full name.
Please especially read the review from Kurt Stallings of Fort Worth, Texas. He saw in my book just exactly what I was trying to portray.
Again, folks, thanks for reading!
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