Post by admin on Jan 9, 2009 5:50:25 GMT -5
This is not a letter from the boro, but I really agree with the author. I like this letter a lot.
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2009/0107/letters/024.html
Using property taxes to fund school systems is all wrong
If there is injustice anywhere in the property tax system, it is not in the pricing or valuation of our homes. The tax rate will only be changed to reflect the dollar amount needed to fund future budgets anyway.
The way education is funded is by far the biggest fallacy of the system. There is no logical connection between your house and any school.
Property taxes are not related to income and only serve to penalize people who might have sacrificed other things to purchase and maintain a nicer home.
Let's put the onus where it belongs. The system is antiquated, flawed and needs to be changed. If you consider that a good education is what enables you to earn money and spend more, then sales and income taxes are what should pay for schools.
Another metric might also be the number of children you are sending to school and the burden you are putting on the system. I'm sure that the state could implement some type of graduated subsidy system to form a tax plan that would better reflect each taxpayer's usage.
How can you argue that the price of your home should have anything to do with educating your children? Why should a person without children pay the same or more than a family with many children? This becomes even more relevant after taking the deductions on federal and state income taxes for all those children. In an era when people have voted for "change," this should be on the top of the list.
Don Baker
Brick Township
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2009/0107/letters/024.html
Using property taxes to fund school systems is all wrong
If there is injustice anywhere in the property tax system, it is not in the pricing or valuation of our homes. The tax rate will only be changed to reflect the dollar amount needed to fund future budgets anyway.
The way education is funded is by far the biggest fallacy of the system. There is no logical connection between your house and any school.
Property taxes are not related to income and only serve to penalize people who might have sacrificed other things to purchase and maintain a nicer home.
Let's put the onus where it belongs. The system is antiquated, flawed and needs to be changed. If you consider that a good education is what enables you to earn money and spend more, then sales and income taxes are what should pay for schools.
Another metric might also be the number of children you are sending to school and the burden you are putting on the system. I'm sure that the state could implement some type of graduated subsidy system to form a tax plan that would better reflect each taxpayer's usage.
How can you argue that the price of your home should have anything to do with educating your children? Why should a person without children pay the same or more than a family with many children? This becomes even more relevant after taking the deductions on federal and state income taxes for all those children. In an era when people have voted for "change," this should be on the top of the list.
Don Baker
Brick Township