20 ms·
Not quite. There are "parcel taxes" too that keep going up. And 2%/year increase isn't inconsequential.
by CrowFly 11y ago
Not quite. There are "parcel taxes" too that keep going up.
And 2%/year increase isn't inconsequential.
- e40 11y agoParcel tax increases are voted on so they aren't just random increases. And I think they need 2/3 to pass.
- DrScump 11y agoBut parcel taxes are added by popular vote of city/district residents, so they almost always pass.
- CrowFly 11y agoRight. And don't forget -- Senior Citizens exempt themselves from parcel taxes and renters don't usually see these reflected in rent increases. So you have a majority with little to lose by voting to tax "other" people. I'm always amazed how the techno-libertarians on yc-hews go full communist when it comes to Prop 13 and the right to own property! And exempting seniors from this taking has a racist element--keep the existing white people from being taxed, but tax the younger people who are moving in.
- crazy2be 11y ago2%/year is pretty inconsequential. Consider that the average inflation rate is 3-4%/year[1][2], and houses generally tend to increase in value at roughly the same rate as inflation[3]. Thus, your property taxes are expected to get cheaper in real cost every year, assuming the housing market is relatively stable. Of course, in SV, the situation is much much worse than this, because housing prices have grown much faster than inflation due to the booming economy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation#Measures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation#Measures [2] http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/Long_Term_Inflation.asp http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/Long_Term_... [3] http://observationsandnotes.blogspot.ca/2011/07/housing-prices-inflation-since-1900.html http://observationsandnotes.blogspot.ca/2011/07/housing-pric...