Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fatty who wrote (12823)	8/21/2003 12:57:25 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Respond to of 306849

RE:"But the point of this discussion is why should a 80 year old couple pay less property tax than a 30 year old for the same house?" Because tax payments are cummulative and the older you get they less you have to pay? <G> So the workers at McDonalds have to pay for the retirees to play golf. I'm surprised you don't understand this...

To: fatty who wrote (12823)	8/21/2003 4:01:25 PM
From: GraceZ	Respond to of 306849

The reason is because in an effort to "do good", some governments have voted to protect the elderly from the government's own excessive spending and excessive inflation (which is really just the way governments collect tax in a situation where they can't raise them directly). The problem is both in the protection as much as it is in the excess. When you protect one class you do it at the expense of another. The problem is that governments like households should continually try to lower the operating expenses, yet they continue to go in the the other direction. The reason real estate tax is so high for the thirty year old is because the thirty year and the thirty year olds before them drove up the sale price of real estate and the tax rate is based on actual sale price, not unrealized gain. There is no other asset class where tax is levied on unrealized gains. The cost of services hasn't risen at the rate of real estate price inflation, they've simply upped the administration cost of providing those services. In business terms, your G&A is completely out of control and your operating expenses are putting you out of biz. The state budget between 1999 and 2001 in CA grew at almost 2x the rate of population growth. No one complained when everyone was floating in easy money but now all the fingers come out.