Editor’s note: The Portager publishes letters to the editor from the community. The opinions expressed are published not because they necessarily reflect those of the publication but because we feel they contribute meaningfully to the local discourse on matters of public interest.
Despite two consecutive rejections of property tax levies and recent home value reappraisals that have generated nearly $1...
Read moreMy father has lived in Streesboro since 1965. He is 94 years old. I think he has paid his fair share of taxes over the years. He built his house himself for less than $20k including land. Now he has to pay taxes on over $300k. Property taxes are inherantly unfair since everyone pays different amounts for the same or less services(no kids in school). Abolish all property taxes. axohtax.com
Property taxes are not unfair. They are simply an avenue of money to provide public services. The fear becomes the supplemental sales tax to offset the abolished property taxes. If abolished, the property taxes do not go away. Do not be blinded by the State and their elusive lingo. The word “property” is simply removed. The only word that remains is “taxes,” and those taxes will be transferred to another entity for us to fully provide to the State. i.e., Property taxes are abolished, sales tax will then go from a statewide median of 7.0% to 20-27%, thereby increasing the sales tax on an average-priced pick-up truck of $50,000 from about $3,500 (7.0%) sales tax to $10,000-$13,500 (20-27%) sales tax. You are going to have to finance that sales tax as it is incorporated into your auto loan, thereby causing you to pay interest on over $10,000 sales tax for the 4-7 year life of the auto loan. Do the math for every single item you’re going to purchase for the next decade, including taxable home improvement projects, and you’ll see a decade from now you’ll be thousands upon thousands of dollars less than if we just continue to pay our property taxes.
How are property taxes fair. I built my house myself 30 yrs ago for 95k. They now say its worth 5 times that. My neighbor’s house is worth half that. We receive the same services, use the same roads but I pay twice as much. Why?
Not to mention the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled it unconstitutional a quarter of a century ago.
With my property taxes so high I don’t have to worry about buying a car for $50k. I can’t afford it. But buying it would be my choice. Property taxes must be paid or you lose your house. I don’t understand why you don’t get that.
I hear your frustration—property taxes are based on assessed value as a proxy for ability to pay, not equal use of services, which can feel unfair when values rise, but eliminating them altogether risks destabilizing funding for the very services we all rely on.
Unfair and unconstitutional. AxOHTax.com
My recollection is that what was ruled unconstitutional in Ohio was the disparity across communities in school funding because wealthier communities had higher property values and therefore higher funding and not disparities between property owners within a community. I didn’t research the question, however.
I await being corrected if wrong.
You may be right on the ruling but it doesn’t take many brains to realize how unfair it is for someone paying double or triple in the same community for the same services. With the same or less income such as retired people.
Where does the math of home values come into play in relevance to the “unfairness”? You stated you built your house for $95,000 and now it is worth 5x that ($475,000). You stated your neighbor’s house is worth half that ($237,500). If you sell and sell for your estimated value, then you’ve created a 500% profit. Your neighbor will not receive a 500% profit because they did not purchase the property 30 years ago for $95,000 and, according to you, they are only valued at half as much. So, my question is where does the profit margin of selling one’s home play into the math you’re alluding to?
I’m not selling my house or plan to. Unless the taxes force me out. I built this house brick by brick and have lived here for 31 years. It’s my home and my wife and I raised 3 kids here. It’s not an investment. It’s my home. I resent the fact the government can take it if I quit paying them rent on it.
So take your profit margin and stick it.
And you didn’t address the fact that my neighbor and I receive the same services and I pay alot more.
Get this straight - I do not take sides. So, take it easy with the childish “stick it” comments and articulate yourself like a mature adult who has in fact lived in a home for 31 years and raised 3 kids. Your aggressive responses prove no point. They only belittle the validity of the points you previously made, so relax a little bit. I am simply asking questions for the benefit of more knowledge. If you are one of those who lacks the ability to have a simple, casual conversation to trade ideas and frustrations with our system and cannot control your emotions, just don’t bother responding.
Due to the fact that I do indeed agree with you on the resentfulness of the government taking homes based on unpaid property taxes, I was genuinely interested on your thoughts about the investment aspect. Two things can be true, Mr. Schrecengost: Your home IS indeed your home. Your home IS also an investment, whether you plan to move or do not plan to move. One aspect is factual, one day you’ll be dead and at that point the home will be an investment for somebody. So, yes indeed, the investment question was a valid one, whether somebody aims to sell-and-move or to stay put.
As for the fact that your neighbor receives the same services and you pay a lot more - there are homes in your area worth double what your home is worth, and those owners pay a lot more than you do, just like you pay a lot more than your neighbor does. I imagine they feel the same way about you that you feel about your neighbor.
Mr. Nye—Your recollection is correct — DeRolph focused on disparities between districts caused by differences in property wealth, not on differences between individual taxpayers within a community. Ohio made adjustments, but it still relies heavily on property taxes, so that underlying issue hasn’t fully gone away.
Rather than short change the next generation of students from the education you benefitted from, remember that the school levies are trying to make up for the cuts in funding from the state. If you don’t like high property taxes put the blame where it belongs on the state legislators.
Also remember the same bunch of crooks raised your utility bills. Larry Householder may be in jail, but his cronies are not, neither are the executives whose bribes have paid off so well for them.
