Leaving California.........

[BIGLRY]

Not trying to single you out 53 , we have been talking about this subject at the local old farts hangout. I believe this voting thing is a little too free. Why should an apartment dweller be allowed to vote on my property taxes. In fact that is allowing a person that this does not affect to impose a tax on me. Wife and I was thinking about selling and building a new smaller house. Then we found out that real estate taxes would be three times higher than what we pay now. I'll stay in my old house for that. The thousands of renter's in my county pass every school tax that is.put on the ballot. Every tax for law enforcement , and every tax for the ambulance district. These entities are the biggest wasters of my tax dollars.

I'm just playing "devil's advocate" here.
So by that reasoning only property owners should be able to vote on ballots concerning property taxes in elections? If so how do you separate non property owners from property owners at the ballot box and keep the voting process anonymous? Renters as well as property owners both send their children to the same schools and both ride on the same roads and call the same law enforcement, ambulance or firefighters when in need?
Do not some renters become property owners...I know I was a renter for many years until my wife and I saved enough for the down payment on our first home?
Oh, and speaking of buying a home, here where I live a single-family home sells for a median price of $600,860. Could you or anyone eles just starting out in life earning minimum wage with a new wife or a few rug rats running around afford to buy?
And what about former property owners who now rent... i.e. divorce, lost job and must sell. Should there be some mechanism in place so they can't vote on property tax issues in the future?
I see your logic, but not the practicability nor unfortunately any equitable solutions to the issue.

Yea, property taxes are a very sore subject with me too. Why do I have to pay school taxes now when all my children finished school 30+ years ago and don't even live in this state?

[jmdaniel]

Yea, property taxes are a very sore subject with me too. Why do I have to pay school taxes now when all my children finished school 30+ years ago and don't even live in this state?

I'll see your bitch and raise you.

No kids ever.
My school taxes this year will be $9500, or within pissing distance of $800 a MONTH!

My idea has always been:

- a base tax for everyone, and make it based on something that is quasi ability to pay, not the value of my freaking house
- if you have kids in school, you pay a user fee, until the kid graduates, or turns 18, whichever comes later, after which the user fee goes away

The beauty of that plan is the folks that are causing the need for a service are paying more for that service, while we all share some of the pain for educating the next generation of burger flippers.

Logical, but with absolutely no chance of this happening; more breeders than childless freaks like me.