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Highlands Today

Give Truth a Chance

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By John Dyce

Published: September 30, 2007

The property tax problem was never one of total tax revenues being too high, rather it was one of unfairness. Unfair because one group underpays for the services it receives from local governments and another group overpays. That situation exists because the Save Our Homes amendment had unforeseen long-term consequences which are now doing grave damage to our economy. Accordingly, we looked to elected state officials to fix the problem.

They first lowered overall taxes, even though overall taxes were not the problem. They then proposed an amendment that was a round about and somewhat deceptive way of eventually eliminating the 3 percent annual cap on tax increases which caused the disparate treatment. Logically, despite the mandated cuts in municipal expenses, passage of the amendment would have resulted in tax increases for many.

The smart and fair thing to do is redistribute property tax burdens by repealing Save Our Homes and phasing in tax deductions for those overpaying and tax increases for those underpaying, so that eventually my home is taxed the same as your equally valued one.

Crunching the numbers can lead to a redistribution formula that will benefit enough people to give passage of a repeal amendment a chance. In addition, the many advantages to ending Save Our Homes could be marketed to those currently underpaying and perhaps result in their support for the change. For example, Save Our Home issues may keep you from moving to a more appropriate residence, make you less inclined to buy a second home, make your home more difficult to sell, discourage development and hurt the many small and large businesses that benefit from a healthy real estate market.

Americans have a low tolerance for unfairness, and property owners are smart enough to grasp the overall moral and financial benefits of getting rid of a good idea that went bad. This is one of those rare complex problems where elected officials need to be up-front and honest with the voters and trust their good judgment. They might be surprised.

John Dyce

Lorida

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