June 11, 2012

Way to go North Dakota

From the New York Times:
North Dakota Considers Eliminating Property Tax
Since Californians shrank their property taxes more than three decades ago by passing Proposition 13, people around the nation have echoed their dismay over such levies, putting forth plans to even them, simplify them, cap them, slash them. In an election here on Tuesday, residents of North Dakota will consider a measure that reaches far beyond any of that � one that abolishes the property tax entirely.

�I would like to be able to know that my home, no matter what happens to my income or my life, is not going to be taken away from me because I can�t pay a tax,� said Susan Beehler, one in a group of North Dakotans who have pressed for an amendment to the state�s Constitution to end the property tax. They argue that the tax is unpredictable, inconsistent, counter to the concept of property ownership and needless in a state that, thanks in part to wildly successful oil drilling, finds itself in the rare circumstance of carrying budget reserves.

�When,� Ms. Beehler asked, �did we come to believe that government should get rich and we should get poor?�
They are in an unusual position being #48 in population of the 50 states and having the all the revenues from the Bakken oil fields but still, it is an idea worth looking at. In Whatcom County, a good chunk of my property taxes go to fund highway maintenance and police and emergency crews -- this is cool. A lot of it also goes to subsidize the bus and ferry system, homeless shelters, low-income housing and public education. I am all for charity on a regular basis but a lot of my expenditures are going for things I have no use for and will never need. Neither Lulu nor I have any kids in the school system -- why should we be paying to support this. Posted by DaveH at June 11, 2012 10:11 PM
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