There are perhaps, historical arguments for the use of property taxes to support public projects, such as public schools, which do not have the validity they once had. Property taxes date from a time when a large percentage of the population lived on farms. Farm property was roughly equivalent to income. The property tax was essentially an income tax , and a relatively equitable one since it was hard to cheat when one's income was out in the open. Arguably, if one had income one could afford to pay taxes.

Today, taxes on home property tax a value which can only be realized by sale of the property, usually not a feasible option for the homeowner. Unless the home is a source of income (from renters, etc.) the property tax has to be paid from income other than that derived from the property. Many homeowners, especially older ones do not have income to pay unrestricted taxes. Forcing them out of their homes may well degrade the quality of their lives. It may also require aid from the community for people who would not otherwise have needed it.

Taxes on home property should be regulated by factors which take into account that a home is often not a source of income and is a necessity more than a luxury. Nowadays income is a more reliable indicator of the ability to pay taxes without undue hardship. In the kind of complex modern society we live in, where our lives are interdependent and few of us are truly self-sufficient, we must cooperate. If individuals or groups cooperate they set up rules for themselves. These rules are what government should be. Simplistic arguments against government tend to be naive nonsense. Measures that benefit the society, but are not immediately profitable (i.e. education, even for the poor) may have to be organized by "the government", and paid for by taxes.

Proposition 13 was compromised by property tax exemptions for businesses (whose property did represent income). Too many conservatives seem to oppose all sorts of taxes (property, income, etc.), without coming to grips with the difficult problems of organizing a sustainable society. Taxes supply the funds to organize some necessary functions in a democratic society. They should be affordable for the taxpayer. Income taxes may fulfill this criterion better than property taxes.

Back to Your Opinions