Becker wrote:
Over all, I generally agree with Carol Becker's statements. However, there is a bit of confusion or fuzziness in the above statement that is misleading.Vicky Heller: It's won't be a dead horse until Minneapolis residents
understand how their property taxes are calculated. If Ms. Becker's claim
is true, that only six people in the State know how the calculation works,
there is something VERY WRONG.
It isn't as bad as all that. It is just I glossed over many of the complexities of the system for pediogical purposes. Property taxes are much more transparent then say the federal income tax or corporate taxes.
Probably more it is that most people don't care enough to learn. Overall property taxes are not as huge a bite of their incomes relatively speaking and the things that really impact their taxation levels like changes in classification rates are out of their direct control. In fact, I think more and more people are getting that if they are unhappy about their property tax levels or their level of services that they really need to be talking to their Legislators.
She seems to imply that compared to income and income taxes, property taxes are so minimal as to not have much visibility. Yet here's what I paid for various taxes as a fraction of my gross income last year -- and I'm firmly in the middle class:
11.9% federal income tax 5.8% property tax 5.7% social security tax 5.1% state income tax 1.3% Medicare
Note that property tax is above all other taxes, except federal income, and that it is just slightly less than half of that amount.
For many people, their mortgage payment or rent may be higher than their federal income tax, and even if less, is almost assuredly higher than their property tax, so in the greather household budget, that would certainly push the relative size of the property tax bite downward in visibility. I can't guess what fraction of people pay more than their property tax in food, utilities or insurance, etc. I don't; none of my family's household budget items exceeds our property taxes.
Most people, I would guess, only get upset about that kind taxation when the "value proposition" does not seem right -- that is, they don't believe they are getting a fair value for what they are paying for. Why pay high taxes if the libraries are seemingly never open, the beaches, pools and porta-potties are closed, the class sizes are too big, etc.?
Which is why I often find myself in agreement with Vicky Heller, as well. The average citizen does not seem to get his or her money's worth from taxes. Instead, the privileged few benefit.
Chris Johnson - Fulton
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