Taxing Presumptions

When we lived in NOVA (Northern Virginia) during a period of rapid property value escalation, we were shocked at the equally rapid increase in property taxes. They went up 15% one year, 20% the next. We attended a County Commission hearing about them, at which the Commissioners dithered about reducing the millage rate by a couple of pennies, reducing the property tax increases to only 14% and 18%!

We have lived in Florida (Pinellas County - Tampa Bay area) for three years, during, you guessed it, a period of rapid property value escalation. Although resident homeowners are shielded from concomitant property tax increases, business owners and non-resident investors are not. They have experienced the same rapid growth in their tax bills that we saw in NOVA.

My point is this: if politicians were to propose a 20% increase in taxes, they would never get it passed. With the property tax structure, the Commissioners have built the tax increase into the system. They then bulk up their budgets to absorb the revenue. Since when should the government get automatic budget increases of 15% and 20%, or for that matter, any amount? All budget increases should be subject to voter approval. The default position should be no tax increase.

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