I have read the furor over the property tax issue and have a few questions to those that want to do away with property taxes.
The first has to do with whether or not property taxes are an unfair way to pay for local governmental needs. I fail to see why a tax based on the assessed value of your real estate is unfair. We purchase our homes based on what our income allows us to afford. That includes the price of the home, insurance, upkeep and taxes. This keeps the tax progressive, those with higher incomes generally have more expensive properties than lower-income families. The value of the property can be estimated fairly accurately and easily appealed with competitive appraisals. Everyone either pays taxes directly or indirectly (through their rent). Some tweaking of the system may need to be done to address the problems of low-income seniors and some other areas, but I see nothing unfair about a property tax. As to the issue of having your property confiscated and sold, try not paying your income taxes for a few years and see whether your assets (including real estate) are seized.
On the other hand, there is a call for substituting income and sales taxes for property taxes. One of the problems with that solution was pointed out by Gary Gerard in his News Views column - people not living in this county will not be contributing to the services our local city and county governments provide.
Another issue I see is how will such money be distributed? Anyone living in the city knows they currently pay more taxes than someone living in the county. But they also receive benefits that a county resident does not, trash pickup and full library privileges to name two of many. Will I pay the same rate as a city resident? If so, will I be provided the same services at the same level as those living in the city? If you move the funding to the state lawmakers, and they decide that the city of Gary needs a higher level of funding per capita than we do, will we have any recourse? Will there even be a need for county commissioners and city councilmen? If we want to build a new school for our children or fund our schools at a higher level than other communities, will we need permission from the state? If you think the schools are spending money too aggressively as some now think, who do you vote out of office?
Finally, it seems to me that the biggest complaints are coming from people who have seen their taxes go up due to the real estate market boom pushing up property values. City and county budgets have not increased dramatically and someone has to pay the taxes to support their budgets. So in the end, the property tax protesters want to place the tax burden on someone else. Who are they targeting? Lower-income citizens? If the sales and income taxes are revenue neutral, then why change to a system that will most certainly result in loss of local control? And if you do not have to write a check twice a year for your taxes, will you become less involved in wanting spending controlled?
