A decision by Washington state voters to limit local
property taxes would be another chink in the armor of what once was, but is no longer, the predominant local tax.
The Nixon administration, for instance, considered creating a new federal sales or value-added tax to fund public schools, thereby reducing reliance on local
property taxes (this idea was never acted upon).
Property taxes as a share of personal income dropped from 4.
When local
property taxes largely determine the amount of money spent per student, there are typically good, well-funded schools and bad, poorly funded ones.
These 1990 developments did not affect
property taxes until the 1991-92 school year.
Ever since then, county assessors have calculated
property taxes from that arbitrary baseline, plus annual increases of up to 3 percent.
I will continue to support a measure that guarantees a lowering of the local
property taxes in return for a guaranteed increase in state funding from year to year by raising the state income tax.
For instance, Arizona's new "Tax Compromise" permits taxpayers to offset
property taxes, penalties and interest by the amount of expenses necessary to remediate the Brownfields.
No doubt the rich and the elderly recognize that abolishing or lowering
property taxes would deal a crushing blow to the schools in their communities -- which is where the bulk of the tax's revenues go.
The term available is defined differently for
property taxes than it is for all other revenues," said Ken Schermann, GASB senior project manager.
This temporary measure was followed in 1995 by a phased repeal of
property taxes on manufacturing machinery and equipment.
13 immediately reduced taxes by $7 billion; a California homeowner with a $50,000 home enjoyed an immediate reduction of about $750 per year in
property taxes.
