I suppose what bothers me most about this decision is the tax issue. People in most locales pay real estate taxes for the entire term of their property ownership. Consider this: If you pay off your mortgage, you still have to pay real estate taxes. If you fail to pay the tax at any time, the government takes your property. Paying this tax is essentially the same as paying protection money to organized crime. Now, the government can *take* your property for private use, using the argument that the increased taxes benefit the community. So, tax more tax revenue (Ie Protection Money) collected, the better the community? Take this decision a little further down the slippery slope and what you find is a bidding process for how much protection money an individual is willing to pay for the privledge of owning property.
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I suppose what bothers me most about this decision is the tax issue. People in most locales pay real estate taxes for the entire term of their property ownership. Consider this: If you pay off your mortgage, you still have to pay real estate taxes. If you fail to pay the tax at any time, the government takes your property. Paying this tax is essentially the same as paying protection money to organized crime. Now, the government can *take* your property for private use, using the argument that the increased taxes benefit the community. So, tax more tax revenue (Ie Protection Money) collected, the better the community? Take this decision a little further down the slippery slope and what you find is a bidding process for how much protection money an individual is willing to pay for the privledge of owning property.