The general idea of government is fairly consistent: when revenues increase (like when a boom in housing brings in more taxes) create new expenditures in order to burn through this new surplus. But, when revenues decrease, the opposite does not occur - the budgets rarely get cut. Instead new "fees" (taxes) are created to fill the gap because of the shortfall.
The Calaveras Enterprise is reporting one of these increases that California is planning for all current homeowners. The idea is that they cannot count on taxes coming through your property tax, because...well, your homes are depreciating and there are so many vacancies now that they are not reaping the harvest that they used to. So, instead of trying to budget appropriately like any common citizen would do, they need to increase revenue in order to cover their mismanagement.
They know that they cannot raise your property tax - many people are fighting the current valuations that the county has assessed in this depreciating market. But, they figure the best way to collect on a large scale would be to insert a fee or "surcharge" - not on the value of your home - but on your insurance policy. That way they will be sure to get it.
Leave it to California politicians to increase the tax on your house, without increasing the tax on your house.
Nice - here is the link. Calaveras Enterprise: Governor proposes new Cal Fire fee for 2008-09
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment