In some states, a push to end all property taxes for homeowners

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

ATLANTA (AP) — It is a goal spreading among anti-tax crusaders — eliminate all property taxes on homeowners.

Rising property values have inflated tax bills in many states, but ending all homeowner taxes would cost billions or even tens of billions in most states. It is unclear if lawmakers can pull it off without harming schools and local governments that rely on the taxes to provide services.

Officials in North Dakota say they are on their way, using state oil money. Wednesday, Republicans in the Georgia House unveiled a complex effort to phase out homeowner property taxes by 2032. In Florida, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis says that is his goal, with lawmakers currently considering phasing out nonschool property taxes on homeowners over 10 years. And in Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott says he wants to eliminate property taxes for schools.

Republicans are echoing those who say taxes, especially when the taxman can seize a house for nonpayment, mean no one truly owns property.

https://apnews.com/article/property-tax-homeowners-georgia-florida-texas-dakota-ecc4b10aac512bd62e6f28a964387be5

Texas and Florida do not have an income tax. Are they going to jack up sales taxes to make up the difference?

[Irish_Dem]

1. No schools, no healthcare, no vaccines, no science, no public services.

Third world shit hole.

[unblock]

3. Ideally, the government funds much of this and shares it more equitably

The problem with property taxes is that rich towns don't share with poor towns.

National property taxes I'd be fine with. Local property taxes are a way for rich people to have rich school and keep poor people out.

[Irish_Dem]

5. The rich don't want to pay any taxes.

[unblock]

9. Well, true....

[Irish_Dem]

15. The rich don't want regular people to own houses.

They are buying up as many houses as they can to rent.
They hope to make home ownership for the middle class a thing of the past.

[AZJonnie]

2. "means no one truly owns property."

That's right, they don't. Your property is part of a city/town (typically), county, state, and country. It's ALWAYS been "yours" in only limited senses.

You also can't murder your wife, beat your children, cook meth, or set up a fission reactor on "your" property. Hell sometimes you can't even raise chickens or maintain a "decrepit cars on jacks" museum on "your own" front lawn.

HOA's can also force the sale of your house if you fail to pay them in timely fashion, cause "your" property is also "theirs".

These people are morons

[bucolic_frolic]

7. There are also places where zoning is not enforced causing property values to fall

Zoning can be a local political football. When townships fail to enforce, litigation is a choice.

[AZJonnie]

13. That too! These people are choosing one, arbitrary way in which one doesn't "truly own" one's property

As if alleviating that one scenario was the key to unlocking "true" property ownership, when it would actually do nothing of the sort.

It is, in the most basic possible sense, a fallacious argument, accepted only by people who have never learned the discipline of critical thinking (or who inherently lack the capacity to do so).

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Hope they can reduce property taxes 1200%

City schools need work, suburban schools have polished marble, and the superintendents make more than a Supreme Court Justice.

Equalizing educational opportunity while cutting chaff might sound fine. Try getting there.

[airplaneman]

6. A simple FFT as envisioned by Ellen Hodges Brown

Could eliminate all taxes replaced by a 0.1%. (A tax of $1 per 1000) Financial Transaction Tax and generate more $ than we do now . We tax the material side of the economy GDP or 30 trillion. The financial side is 7,625 trillion most of which is not taxed. Think Wall Street or money making money.
-Airplane

[Vinca]

8. North Dakota realizes it takes $$$$ to run snowplows, right?

[RockRaven]

11. There is no free lunch. Plans to eliminate one type of tax is always sleight-of-hand.

Are there roads and schools and cops and whatnot in your state? Then the money to pay for that stuff is coming from somewhere.

If it isn't property tax, it will be income, or sales, or various fees which are just taxes without the t-word. If it isn't paid by the individual human residents then it will be paid indirectly by businesses which charge those individual human residents higher-than-otherwise prices for goods and services.

There. Is. No. Free. Lunch.

Texas touts their absence of income tax and sneers at supposed high tax California. But when you add up ALL tax types, taxes in California are lower than in Texas for most people. You know for which people California's taxes become higher than Texas's? The richest. The 1% (metaphorically, not literally). And because the rich control the public conversation/propaganda and because we are a nation of temporarily embarrassed dumbfuck billionaires, people hear about no income tax in Texas and say "Oh! Lower taxes!"

[Pisces]

12. This would be insane, especially in states with not income tax. The poor and renters would pay the price.

[yellowdogintexas]

14. More than likely.

Not only do we not have a state income tax, there is a constitutional amendment forbidding a state income tax.
We have also passed constitutional amendments which significantly increase the Homestead Exemption and Senior Citizens examption . My Property Taxes are far less than they were before these amendments were passed. I am estimating here but I think from 1700 annually to 650. We have homestead and senior discount.

[piddyprints]

17. Tennessee also has no income tax.

The state sales tax is 7%. But the county tax added to it makes a total of 9.75%. Food is taxed at a slightly lower rate, but anything over 0% for food I consider to be unacceptable.

Property tax doesn't seem to buy anything in this county. The schools suck, our roads are bad, etc. We also pay more than the $29 per vehicle for registration than other counties because of a wheel tax. I have a Hybrid Sienna, which adds another $100 onto the registration. The basic registration is going up to $48 this year.

I'd predict that any state that does away with property taxes will increase sales taxes even more.

But, yay, no income tax and maybe no nonschool property tax.