What Makes Californians $h!+ Their Pants

[tabs]

I'll say those 2 words that absolutely makes a Californian break out with a cold sweat and makes his pants feel warm and sticky.

PROPERTY TAXES....

Oh yeah sacrificial lambs you cross yourselfs and utter the magic words that you ward off the evil words with...... PROP 13.

Why do you think Prop 13 was passed by the legislature back in 1978? To keep the old folks in their homes, by keeping property taxes affordable for them. WRONG ANSWER.

Sure it helped them, but the legislature knew that on average people in CA lived in their homes an average of 5 to 7 years. That meant that every few years a piece of property would be reapraised at it's current market value. This put into place the economic mechanism for hugh appreciation of home values. This happened for two reasons 1, your property taxes were stable and you knew what the bill would be for the coming years 2, if you stayed in your property you had essentailly a flat property tax curve, while the price of your RE ballooned, thus the wealth effect. If you wanted to move up you cashed in your inflated piece of property and used equity to buy the more expensive piece. Hopefully your wages made the increase in taxes affordable.

NOW THE EVIL ONE...Warren Buffet has said the dreaded words...RAISE PROPERTY TAXES as a means of helping ease the fiscal crisis CA is faced with. Notice how quickly he was shut up by Arnold...

If any of U brave CA souls cares to look at your property tax Bill you notice a list of charges above your basic Property Taxes...they are the municiple bond issue payments...usually for parks, street lighting etc in your community...but they add up. I wonder where the money is going to come from to make payments on the $15,000,000,000.00 bond issue that Arnold is proposing? Then my next question is where are they going to come up with the money for next years deficeit?

Maybe Arnold will not raise Property Taxes, maybe he will let the Democrats do that, as the only DESPERATE means to avert BK in the state of CA.

NOw comes the drop your load time boyz....If they Reapraise the property taxes for everybody in the state of CA say on a one time basis at the current market value. What will your Property Tax Be?


Let's see now that home in Laguna Niguel thats worth $1.2M at 1.25% is $15,000.00 a year in Property taxes. Or a $1250.00 a month for the privledge of living in the "Real CA." How many people will that push outa their homes, and don't you just think that will push the value of those homes down just a bit? Also what will rents do when the property owner is hit with his new tax bill?

Oh what webs we weave when we try to deceive....

[motion]

1. It won't happen. Anyone who proposes to raise property taxes in California will be slaughtered.

2. Even if it does, it won't make a difference. There are places around here that are subject to Mello-Roos taxes (not my house, thankfully). Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, some of the newer communities have it. This adds several thousands of $$$ to their tax bills. Guess what? They're enjoying appreciation just like everyone else. Its just a part of the price you pay. Besides, an extra $6k per year in taxes will easily be covered by appreciation. Its like gas being $3 a gallon... sure it sounds expensive, but people can make small adjustments to accomodate it.

Cmon, Tabs... you can do better than that

[tabs]

Laugh all U want...

Will U still be laughing when your 250K house is reapraised at 1.2M...thats a jump from $2750.00 to $15000.00 a year...How many household budgets do you think that will break? How many homes do you think will have to be sold because the owners won't be able to afford the increase? Remember a lot of those homeowners were step up owners who brought equity with them and not necessarily mega bux incomes.

If the State of CA is about to lose it's CREDIT RATING...because it can't come up with a payment on a Bond issue...somehow I don't think the legislature is going to care about being "Slaughtered" Or if they have a choich of paying the state employees or paying a bond payment...and they choose the Bond payment...all those outa work state employees are going to make a difference, just look at the disruption in services alone? Now I even give your arguement ammo, my examples are extreme what if's but to divert the fiscal crisis GOVT SPENDING in CA is going to have to be cut...that means somebody or thing has to go. What that will be I don't know? But it is going to be a drag on the economy no matter what, meaning pressure on RE prices directly or indirectly.

[tabs]

PS...You know how quick Arnold shut Buffets mouth on the Property Tax issue...they may not be talking about it, but Buffet let the cat outa the bag...they are thinking about it. I would bet they are scheming on ways to get around Prop 13 right now. Slip a few more bux on your tax bill every year...

[JavaBrewer]

I'm really familar with special assesment taxes (Mello Roos). Combined with the base tax rate we pay 1.75% - as do most of the newer communities in North County San Diego. Average increases in these communities are seeing 20% annual gains - higher than communties with no Mello Roos paying 1.1%. There's a new community going in next to Palomar Airport with a reported tax base to hit 2.0% - interest is very heavy. I expect to see tents and campers in the lots a couple nights before phase releases.

[tabs]

Let's see now if they reapraise your home for Property taxes every other year..... or in other words every 2 years.

A 100K home at 2% = $2000 a year

2 years later at 20% per year means a 144K home value at 2% = $2800 a year or a 40% increase in taxes

How long do you think you'd be seeing a 20% increase in property values?

Shhhh...don't let the Liberals know about this new source of revnue

[JavaBrewer]

So give it up already, when are you moving back?

[tabs]

When I'm able to buy you guys out at foreclosure/REPO sales!

[vash]

nice.

[Moses]

Arnold knows the best way out of this mess is to make California business friendly again.

He will attempt to get control of the workers compensation mess, offer tax incentives to employers and in general work to expand the tax base.

Raising property taxes works in exactly the opposite manner, it makes it harder for businesses to set up shop and employ folks in California.

A vigorous and prosperous community of employers is the obvious solution. Arnold knows that.

[john70t]

California seems to be a measure of the extremes.

-I paid $1200 in taxes etc.. on a $6500 vehicle(!). This made it's resell value in another state very,very low.

-at the same time, property taxes in the bay area have been frozen for 25 years, so the unnamed guy who owns half of the S.F. buisness district is paying much less than 1/4 of todays taxes.(!)

At the same time: undocumented "illegal" immigrants are claiming stake to health care, driver licences and access to premium colleges.

The world seems a little "transitional" nowadays.

[tabs]

Moses, Thats the benfit of not raising taxes in general. However what are they going to do for money until the "friendliness" starts to work? Buffet let the cat outa the bag...

If property values come down by lets say 40% a $1M house is now 600K, and because the wild swings in property valuation aren't there anymore as a result of having property taxes keep a check on them, then CA becomes more affordable to the rest of the nation. Also property values will be more in line with the rest of the nations property valuation...as you know most places don't have prop 13. Remenber property values in CA were more in line with the rest of the nation before 1978 and prop 13, and homes weeren't considered an investment to make money on...they were just places to live that appreciated with inflation. I remember that all too well in the 60's.

[motion]

Originally posted by Moses
Raising property taxes works in exactly the opposite manner, it makes it harder for businesses to set up shop and employ folks in California.

Spoken like a true Republican. Arnold gets it

[tabs]

Explain the Buffet comment then? Thats Arnolds BRAIN TRUST.

And don't forget the Democrats still control the Legislature, Arnold may just be setting them up to do the dirty work of raising those property taxes? Do you think those new illegal voters care about how much the fat cats that they do gardening and house cleaning for pay in property taxes. What they care about is having free access to services and not what you pay in property taxes...So if push comes to shove I guess your gona have to be prepared to pay a little more!

[john70t]

Life, and budget, is a balance.

Is that spelled balence? Ballince? Ballenghthsses? All sounds the same in drunken englische.

[Moses]

Originally posted by tabs
Explain the Buffet comment then? Thats Arnolds BRAIN TRUST.

Property taxes are the intellectuals version of a national sales tax. In the past, Buffet expressed support of property taxes in lieu of state income and other taxes. Nobody is talking about repealing the state income or sales taxes, so dismantling prop 13 is probably off he table.

Also, Arnold has an enormous list of economic advisors. Buffet is just one of many.

Come on back, Tabs. The water is just fine.

[john70t]

Sea-shells that have specific, non-copyable holes in them?

Or flattened and ground up wood bark printed/colored/magnetized. It's all the same.

[motion]

Have another one for me, John

[Moses]

Originally posted by john70t
Sea-shells that have specific, non-copyable holes in them?

Or flattened and ground up wood bark printed/colored/magnetized. It's all the same.

I didn't want to do this, but you forced me.

http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html

[john70t]

As a leftist, I would have to ask which presidents have spent the most federal dollars on useless projects headed by their friends, and created the national deficit?

As a rightist, I would have to ask who has taken blue-collar jobs out of the country, catered to big-buisness, and sold out the elderly?

Sorry, I cant see the link Moses.
Short attention span combined with a crappy sub-21k/sec isp means no waiting around for vague flash loading times.
I already am an unpaid half-time web sufer.