Coming Generational Showdown

[pb4uski]

In our state they have property tax relief based on income.... conceptually similar to Obamacare subsidies... you get a subsidy for your property taxes in excess of a sliding scale percentage of your income.

It seems like a reasonable idea, but there are unintended consequences. For those who get relief, there is no personal disincentive if school taxes increase because your property taxes are capped at a percentage of income so these folks are fodder for the School Board and those who want a bigger school budget (we already spend more per pupil than all adjoining towns).

In fact, I recall a few years ago at a meeting where the School Board proposed a 10% increase in the budget a woman who is well known around town as a uber-liberal getting up and speaking to point out that those on property tax relief should feel free to vote in favor of the proposed budget because it would not impact what they pay in property taxes.

 

[haha]

In our state they have property tax relief based on income.... conceptually similar to Obamacare subsidies... you get a subsidy for your property taxes in excess of a sliding scale percentage of your income.

It seems like a reasonable idea, but there are unintended consequences. For those who get relief, there is no personal disincentive if school taxes increase because your property taxes are capped at a percentage of income so these folks are fodder for the School Board and those who want a bigger school budget (we already spend more per pupil than all adjoining towns).

Perhaps less focused but similar is the way cities like Seattle with a high percentage of renters will tend to always vote for property tax increases, since they believe (often erroneously) that these taxes will not affect them, but only those hated property owners.

Personally I will never vote for what someone wants to convince me is the greater good, if it is not also at least neutral to my interests. We do not live in a world of stable villages or even nations. It's mostly a grabfest, and shame on whomever gets grabbed from.

Ha

 

[MarieIG]

The 2+ party system has worked well. Even when both parties have the same vision, there are multiple ways to achieve the goal.

That is where your original statement of "some folks consciously vote for their own selfish interests with no regard whatsoever for others" may be flawed.

There is a big difference voting to keep your own money, and voting to take someone else's money away. Yet, often the ones that want to keep their own money are the villains.

...

Why is that almost always ignored?

 

[fgtayl01]

IMO if everyone consciously voted their own selfish interests we'd be in a much better place.

Voters might be. Non-voters, including future generations, wouldn't necessarily. They face a taxation without representation.

 

[razztazz]

IMO if everyone consciously voted their own selfish interests we'd be in a much better place.

They already do don't they? You're not implying that the system is run on charity. I am constantly told that poor people (people who are getting something the person telling me this isn't getting) vote for all the welfare programs and transfer payments. The Rich do the same thing. Only because there aren't enough of them they simply buy the legislation that aggrandizes them. Whether or not it is at the expense of anyone else is not material and does not concern them.

I am partially joking, of course. One of the above statements is absolutely false. The other is absolutely true. So, at least some of us are already doing the selfish interests thing.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

Voters might be. Non-voters, including future generations, wouldn't necessarily. They face a taxation without representation.

Bingo! You nailed it!
Society itself exists only because there is an inter-generational social contract between the young and old. The current adult generation provides infrastructure and educational opportunities for the next generation, who will then work to provide the necessities for the older generation, and the structure to empower succeeding younger generations. The fact that there seems to be hardly any recognition of this when we are enacting policy seems sad and strange to me, especially when reading some of the writings of the founders who often expounded on this.