Why isn't anyone talking about the incredibly unfair and inequitable property tax system?

[MoonRiver]

In Canada's provinces they collect property taxes from homes and distribute it equally to all schools. Here the rich get to use all their taxes for their district schools, and the poor, who don't pay as much, get practically nothing.

[beachbum bob]

1. starts with voters voting in legislatures that are willing to change the system

when we have 30% of the voting pool actually participating we get what we get.

[MoonRiver]

2. I know, but our candidates should be bringing this up.

[beachbum bob]

3. its all local and NOT federal issue, so we need the locals politicians to start and that will be

difficult for al the obvious reasons.

property taxes are a terrible way to fund schools BUT its the defacto method of doing so as its always been about local control of the local school districts. If you have ever suffered thru a school consolidation process, you know what I am saying, then think the difficult of consolidating local school districts together, then think about placing all the schools under a county school board, then think about placing all the schools under a state school board. The problems are endless and it is near impossible to make fair.

[MoonRiver]

4. I became aware of this issue when we lived in St. Louis.

My children attended one of the most affluent school districts, but I was intensely involved with Democratic issues. The system is inherently unfair, much more so than busing, and must be overturned. I know this current r/w SC would do absolutely nothing if a case were brought to them, but hopefully that will change.

[beachbum bob]

7. all about local control and who is going to give that up?

You moved to the suburb in your $750,000 house and paying 24,000 a year in property taxes so your kid can go to top notch school and to think those people want a solution that can only diminish what they worked for?

The issue really is at the state level that do not provide funds adequately to school districts of low income areas. That is the problem. money doens't solve all the issues with public education but if you kids are sitting in a school with leaky roof, a gym that can;t be used and electrical supply that disallows more than 6 computers in the entire school, that problem can be fixed with money

[MoonRiver]

10. That was nowhere near the price of our house, 27 years ago, but,

we have the awareness of right and wrong. That's why we both still are in favor of equitable distribution of school funds.

[Retrograde]

5. It varies too much from state to state

Here in California we pay property taxes to the county rather than to a city, and IIRC part of those go into the state's general fund, so poorer counties do get some assistance. In some states individual school districts do the taxing. California also allows cities or counties to add additional taxes if 2/3 of the voters agree: my town has a parcel tax on top of the property taxes that goes to schools.

[MoonRiver]

8. Well, that is an improvement.

[gratuitous]

6. Warren is, sort of

When she talks about her wealth tax proposal, which some people feel is some far-out looney tunes idea, she reminds her audience that we already do that with property taxes. A small exemption on the first $50 million of accumulated wealth, and it turns out that not very many people would have to pay it, and those that do pay it can easily afford it.

It's not directly to your point, but then apportionment of property taxes collected is done at the county level in the state I live in, and not really a national issue.

[MoonRiver]

9. It's a start. Kudos to Senator Warren!

[customerserviceguy]

14. The Federal government

does not levy property taxes. Property taxes are levied by states and localities.

Sen. Warren's wealth tax would require a constitutional amendment to be effectuated, just like the Sixteenth Amendment was needed to allow the Federal government to levy an income tax.

[NewJeffCT]

11. In Connecticut, it is mostly a town thing

Most of the money for the schools come from the town property tax collections.

The state distributes a percentage of its state revenue back to the towns and cities as well, but the majority for most towns is from their own property taxes. The wealthier towns tend to get less money than those that are less affluent, though. My current town is pretty affluent and gets almost no money from the state (mostly upper middle class, with some rich, some middle class and a handful of working class) - however, the town I lived in before (from 2012-5) is more diverse economically (had a big range from very wealthy to poor) and typically gets several million dollars/year.

The problem is that the wealthier towns here also have higher property values, sometimes much higher - Greenwich, CT is known for its affluence - the median listing price for a home there is $2.2 million according a Zillow right now. But, that home that is $2.2 million has a comparatively low property tax rate of about 1% of assessed value of the home. The assessed value in Connecticut is 70% of the market value, so the assessed value is a little over $1.5 million and the property tax rate is a little over $15,000/year. However, 30-40 minutes up the road in Bridgeport, the median home price is $177,500. So, if Bridgeport had the same property tax rate as Greenwich, that same home would be taxed on an assessed value of $124,250 and getting $1,242.50 in property taxes. But, they don't. The tax rate works out to about 5.5%, so that same home is generating $6,834 in property taxes for the town. So, the residents of Bridgeport are paying a much higher percentage of their income as property taxes, but still getting less money in return ($6,800 vs $15,000)

The state helps balance that out, but that doesn't balance it out fully and also doesn't take into account the atmosphere in the school systems and the surrounding environment. And, the city residents in Bridgeport are paying more money and can't afford it.

[Anon-C]

12. We are FUBAR in California thanks to Prop. 13.

[WillowTree]

13. That's an issue that needs to be addressed at the state and possibly even the county level.

State taxing structures vary widely and property taxes pay for many things other than schools. Some states have high property taxes but no income taxes, too, which disperses the funds even more. It isn't a federal government issue.

[MissB]

15. Our state does the school equalization thing with property taxes for education.

The state vacuums up all the educational related property tax and redistributes it amongst the districts in the state. Schools with more rural populations will get an increase to cover more busing. Small schools get a boost so they can have more class offerings. Schools with more services for certain populations get more $ (and generally those are larger city schools closer to better hospitals and services.) But there is a baseline funding per student from the state.

The wealthier schools set up a workaround by establishing private foundations. Neighborhood folks donate to the foundation (tax deductible) and the foundation donates to the school. Our local campaign for our district is for about $1 mil and provides extras (full time art, music, PE, librarian, counselor, etc) for the 600 kids between two schools.

[MoonRiver]

16. Wow, sounds like you live in a very progressive state!

Cool.

[GulfCoast66]

18. Because I don't think the Federal Government can change it at all.

And I get the idea that it would help to bring attention to the issue. Although each state is so different it would be hard to pin down the correct talking points which could cause confusion.

The problem is there are so many issues that the Federal Government can and should do that need to be addressed. And each candidate only has so much ‘air’ time. They have to pick their talking points and prioritize the ideas they think will help them the most.

[Blue_true]

19. My red county distributes property tax revenue to all schools.

Schools near very rich neighborhoods are the same as schools in working class neighborhoods.

[pnwmom]

20. Our state constitution requires equity in school funding.

No system is perfect -- there have been lawsuits, and adjustments, over the years.

But Washington's system is better than having only local real estate taxes to fund schools.

https://law.justia.com/constitution/washington/constitution-9.html

SECTION 1 PREAMBLE.
It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.

SECTION 2 PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
The legislature shall provide for a general and uniform system of public schools. The public school system shall include common schools, and such high schools, normal schools, and technical schools as may hereafter be established. But the entire revenue derived from the common school fund and the state tax for common schools shall be exclusively applied to the support of the common schools.

[MoonRiver]

21. Awesome!