Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Giving or Taking - paying for schools and childcare

[David Mandel (dlmandel]

    This discussion really reinforces what I've always believed:
that property tax should be abolished. It's just too divisive; too many
reasons for too many people to feel it's unfair to them, while it in fact
perpetuates class divisions because rich towns collect more and can afford
better schools while they keep out the poor. Also, the egislative/ administrative/judicial
energy and resources invested in securing exemptions for dubious "educational"
and "religious" institutions and "charities" could be so much better spent
on the causes they purport to pursue.
    Property tax should be replaced by a higher and
much more progressive tax on individuals and corporations, and a steep
estate tax, all of which would support schools and the rest of government's
functions just fine, affect the very rich significantly, the rest of us
hardly at all. But most Americans would be aghast at the thought, believing
as they do that they're only a lottery ticket away from being very rich
themselves.

... late night musings from David Mandel in Sacramento
 
 

> We are
> non-parents, most of whose property taxes goes to pay for the
> local public school system.
> ...
and

 Many towns are resistant to cohousing-style homes, i.e. small and clustered, because they bring in lots of kids and little tax money.  ... Everybody from the town planner to newspaper articles made it clear that the town did not want any more housing built, especially anything in the affordable (cheap=low taxes) range.

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