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!