Property Tax Battle Brewing In Troy

[BloodEclipse]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]MSNBC.com[/FONT]

Property Tax Battle Brewing In Troy
Millage Put To Vote Tuesday
ClickonDetroit.com
updated 1:19 a.m. ET, Tues., Feb. 23, 2010

TROY, Mich. - A property tax battle is brewing in Oakland County's Troy community.
Watch:
Troy Wants To Hike Property Taxes
City leaders want to hike property taxes to maintain services, but some residents are voicing opinions against it.
Members organizing a tea party against the tax hike, which would come in the form of a millage, asked supporters to join them Monday evening in making phone calls to more than 400 residents.
"We want to keep police, fire, trash, all essential services at the highest standards but cut out the extras that are not necessary," said Glenn Clark, who is with the tea party group. "There is already money in the budget to work through this tough economic time without raising taxes."
The group is telling residents to vote no Tuesday on the millage proposal, which is part of a special election.
The tea party members said the hike would raise taxes by 29 percent.
But city leaders said the increase would be about 20 percent, and that tax bills would go down about $300 for an average homeowner because of declining property values.
The increase would last for about five years before expiring.
The city said it is projecting an upcoming budget shortfall of about $30 million.
Residents against the raise said the city needs to make cuts within its own budget before reaching out into the community.
The city said it's already made significant cuts.
"We've looked at every department to see if its more cost effective to privatize, consolidate, regionalize or eliminate," said Troy City Manager John Szerlag. "Even if the millage passes, we're going to proceed with those studies."
Polls for election will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

The increase would last for about five years before expiring.

If you buy that, I have a nice bridge for sale.
It is time for all levels of Govt to live within their means.

 

[homeless]

We are rapidly approaching the time for a war of attrition against the government. If they continue to spend our money without approval what other approach do we have then to cut off the supply? Citizens of means have already started relocating to better financial climates, what happens when those who can't move decide to stop paying property taxes or simply cannot afford to?

Furthermore I know many people that have started to operate side businesses completely off the books. There is a growing untaxed service and used goods market. It wouldn't be hard for me to spend the majority of my money with unlicensed businesses or real merchants that don't keep complete books.

I could minimize my own tax burden significantly without going much out of my way.

 

[Ogre]

We are rapidly approaching the time for a war of attrition against the government. If they continue to spend our money without approval what other approach do we have then to cut off the supply? Citizens of means have already started relocating to better financial climates, what happens when those who can't move decide to stop paying property taxes or simply cannot afford to?

Furthermore I know many people that have started to operate side businesses completely off the books. There is a growing untaxed service and used goods market. It wouldn't be hard for me to spend the majority of my money with unlicensed businesses or real merchants that don't keep complete books.

I could minimize my own tax burden significantly without going much out of my way.

They lose their house, and the property is sold by the county (sheriffs sale). Property taxes should be abolished! One can never truly be free if they are always indebted to the govt.

 

[homeless]

Tax sales only work as long as people are interested in buying the property, once they have taxed us into oblivion people wont have the money to buy your home from the sheriff.

 

[hornadylnl]

Tax sales only work as long as people are interested in buying the property, once they have taxed us into oblivion people wont have the money to buy your home from the sheriff.

That will only work if a large majority of people quit paying them. I fear the only real solution involves short ropes and tall lamp posts. And a few pitch forks for good measure.

 

[homeless]

Hell, I think that we have a better chance of surviving a zombie apocalypse than fixing our government. And I think that your position is the eventuality that my thoughts would lead to. The fact is that the American people are not just "waking up" as so many have said, they are getting tired of the policies that are being forced on them. Right now we are arguing over how to fix things, and the .gov is trying to justify its spending and existence.

 

[djl02]

Property taxing in Indiana is crazy, And they are trying to say our state has the cheapest taxes. I find that hard to believe. I pay 4 times as much on my house ,compared to Harrison county. Equals out to about 300 a month. I'm getting to where I cant afford it anymore, and its a modestly small home ,less than 1700 sq ft

 

[homeless]

Part of the problem is that Indiana spreads out its tax burden through several different taxes. We need to pick one and go with it. However right now I can't see anything that I really want to tax. I would be OK with a FairTax based system, but would prefer to move to a user fee system.

 

[Scutter01]

I lived in Troy for many years. It's a relatively-affluent middle-class suburb of Detroit. The property taxes have historically been really low because so many large international corporations have their world headquarters there (K-Mart, Volkswagen N.A. etc.). I can only suspect that as more of these companies are having troubles due to the economy, the bulk of the tax burden is starting to shift to the homeowners now.

To claim that taxes will rise "29%" is bad reporting. It makes it sound like a lot (which it may be), but 29% of, for example, $100 is a lot less than 29% of $1000. I'd rather see what the current and proposed new millage rates are before I'm willing to comment on the residents suddenly having an unbearable tax burden.

 

[T-rav]

This is whats brewing I feel

 

[kludge]

The increase would last for about five years before expiring.

Don't you believe it.

History of Income Tax in the U.S.