You want services? you have to PAY for them, idiots.......
At least one year too late, Georgia lawmakers are toying with a cap on property tax assessments. Better late than not at all!
It has long been a matter of great injustice and frustration throughout the Peach State: It doesn't matter what the economy is doing -- if the local tax assessor thinks your house is worth 5, 6, 7 or 10 percent more than the year before, you're most likely stuck.
And while local politicians like to crow when they hold the line on property tax millage rates -- as the Augusta Commission recently did -- such "frugality" is meaningless if you end up paying more taxes anyway because your home's tax assessment was jacked up.
Many homeowners found that to be the case this year -- and were livid when the tax assessment reflected not the value of their homes today, but the value they had last year. In most cases, the value of homes has dropped significantly; but because of the lag time in tax law -- your home is assessed in 2008 at 2007 market values -- people are paying taxes on more home than they own.
A cap on the increase in tax assessments is the very least the Georgia General Assembly can do to provide us a little relief. One plan favored by House leaders would cap yearly assessment increases at 3 percent or the rate of inflation.
Whatever the specifics, get this done. Homeowners tuned in to the assessment debacle already are steamed. Those who aren't yet tuned in will be when their tax bills arrive.
Comments
You want services? you have to PAY for them, idiots.......
Paying is not the question here, the price is....Mrs. Putt & I went out to eat last nite, it cost $80 + the tip....That's fine. I just don't want that same meal to become $500.
Services are one thing, but throwing away taxpayers hard earned money on foolish projects is another.
Valuations are decreaing and the economy is shrinking. It's time for taxes to decrease. We are in the economic correction of a generation and local government will be changed back to manageable levels also. You can't continue to spend what is not really there. Assessments that are falsely high mean we are resisting the correction, but that can't last forever. Corrections are a natural consequence of excess.
Services ? I don't mind paying for the services provided but are these services meant to include free gas, cell phones and feasibility studies that are never used. I call that money thrown away. Look around Richmond County residents and see if your money is being used wisely. Compared to North Augusta and
Columbia County I don't think so. The city has spent millions unnecessary cleaning up for projects that have been put aside.
Yes my home was assessed at the 2006 rates for the 2008 taxes. I called and was told that was how it was done. That doesn't make sense, homes have been devalued thousand of dollars since the big boom in 2006 but we still were expected to comply with this phony excuse.
Exactly what will happen with the "Fair Tax scenario. You will never be able to regulate what the state taxes to make up for shortfalls from federal revenues. Can't people see that under a two class system things like this will inevitably happen? I personally would like to see a transparent budget that shows where the money goes and why it went there!!! I really have a problem with non-profits that are nothing more than private clubs paid for by you and me through taxes.
Dissman, what not profit private clubs are you speaking of.. I have a problem with all the free housing, free this and that.
This editorial uses wrong-headed thinking. Do the math: at 3% assessment increase PER YEAR, your assessment will increase 50% in 13 years and 100% in 23 years. And local governments would use such a law to put assessment increases on autopilot without having to answer to property owners. And when upcoming inflation is MORE than 3%, you can bet that the assessment increases will shoot up more than 3%.
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