In Illinois, all property is reassessed every three years (I believe it's annually outside Cook County) according to what the County Assessor thinks it would sell for. Reassessing property only when it is sold sounds wierd to someone who has owned his home for 40 years and more than half expects his son to live out *his* life in the same house.
I'm not sure I understand why revenue from sales tax would be more stable than that from income tax. When people lose their jobs, they cut back on purchases. I'd expect to see fairly similar patterns for the two revenue sources.
Yes, the sales tax is regressive. It would be good to find some way to lessen its impact on low-income people. But since this proposal seems to anticipate that low-income people would pay no income taxes at all, I'm not clear how a tax credit would accomplish that. And the thing about sales taxes in Illinois is that you pile city toxes on top of county taxes on top of rapid transit district toxes on top of state taxes. I think the total comes to around 13% in the city of Chicago. That's too high, but it becomes hard to find alternative sources of revenue.
Yes, same year. Neither of them ever really said anything to me about how it affected them. The only conversation I remember having was with my dad, and in the context of "flashbulb memories". You know--people often have very vivid memories of where they were and what they were doing when they receive shocking news (or witness it). My dad said he was sitting in a barber chair getting the worst haircut of his life.
That's incredible. I wonder if they could have been partly shielded from the brunt of the news (some of us watched it over and over and over) by having so much to do for their wedding. I hope so. I'd like to think they were so focused on their special day that they could not fully take in the news until later.
Bill--In California the considerable majority of the income taxes are paid by the well to do, and derive from their investments. When the stock market does very well, receipts are way up; when it faints, they plunge. It's incredibly volatile. Back in the 1970's, when there was a real estate bubble, home assessments were going up so far and so fast that people on fixed incomes couldn't afford the taxes. So Proposition 13 rolled property taxes back a few years and said they couldn't increase more than 2% a year unless the property was sold, at which time it would be reassessed (typically they use the selling price). The problem is that major companies may not sell properties for a century or more. The property tax limitations have pushed cities into promoting big box stores because they can get sales taxes from them, but that is unhealthy. It has also resulted in more funding of local schools from the income tax, which means a transfer of power and decision making from local school boards to bureaucrats in the state capital, a mixed bag at best. But tampering with the property tax system is political poison.
Oh my, Renee--I can well imagine the haircut wasn't up to the barber's usual standard. But better to be getting a haircut done than some other things... [I guess that qualifies as black humor]. Miyoko and I were married on the day Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down. Demonstrators were blocking the streets in the embassy quarter of Tokyo, and we were trying to get back to the US Consulate from the Ward office to wrap things up before they closed; we only made it because the taxi drier used an inventive route through alleys and hotel parking lots and service entrances. We were intent on OUR major event. I suppose that was your folks' primary reaction too.
Oh my, Renee--I can well imagine the haircut wasn't up to the barber's usual standard. But better to be getting a haircut done than some other things... [I guess that qualifies as black humor]. Miyoko and I were married on the day Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down. Demonstrators were blocking the streets in the embassy quarter of Tokyo, and we were trying to get back to the US Consulate from the Ward office to wrap things up before they closed; we only made it because the taxi drier used an inventive route through alleys and hotel parking lots and service entrances. We were intent on OUR major event. I suppose that was your folks' primary reaction too.
In Illinois, all property is reassessed every three years (I believe it's annually outside Cook County) according to what the County Assessor thinks it would sell for. Reassessing property only when it is sold sounds wierd to someone who has owned his home for 40 years and more than half expects his son to live out *his* life in the same house.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I understand why revenue from sales tax would be more stable than that from income tax. When people lose their jobs, they cut back on purchases. I'd expect to see fairly similar patterns for the two revenue sources.
Yes, the sales tax is regressive. It would be good to find some way to lessen its impact on low-income people. But since this proposal seems to anticipate that low-income people would pay no income taxes at all, I'm not clear how a tax credit would accomplish that. And the thing about sales taxes in Illinois is that you pile city toxes on top of county taxes on top of rapid transit district toxes on top of state taxes. I think the total comes to around 13% in the city of Chicago. That's too high, but it becomes hard to find alternative sources of revenue.
Yes, same year. Neither of them ever really said anything to me about how it affected them. The only conversation I remember having was with my dad, and in the context of "flashbulb memories". You know--people often have very vivid memories of where they were and what they were doing when they receive shocking news (or witness it). My dad said he was sitting in a barber chair getting the worst haircut of his life.
ReplyDeleteBrady and I are not fond of rainy days.
ReplyDeleteThat's incredible. I wonder if they could have been partly shielded from the brunt of the news (some of us watched it over and over and over) by having so much to do for their wedding. I hope so. I'd like to think they were so focused on their special day that they could not fully take in the news until later.
ReplyDeleteBill--In California the considerable majority of the income taxes are paid by the well to do, and derive from their investments. When the stock market does very well, receipts are way up; when it faints, they plunge. It's incredibly volatile. Back in the 1970's, when there was a real estate bubble, home assessments were going up so far and so fast that people on fixed incomes couldn't afford the taxes. So Proposition 13 rolled property taxes back a few years and said they couldn't increase more than 2% a year unless the property was sold, at which time it would be reassessed (typically they use the selling price). The problem is that major companies may not sell properties for a century or more. The property tax limitations have pushed cities into promoting big box stores because they can get sales taxes from them, but that is unhealthy. It has also resulted in more funding of local schools from the income tax, which means a transfer of power and decision making from local school boards to bureaucrats in the state capital, a mixed bag at best. But tampering with the property tax system is political poison.
ReplyDeleteOh my, Renee--I can well imagine the haircut wasn't up to the barber's usual standard. But better to be getting a haircut done than some other things... [I guess that qualifies as black humor]. Miyoko and I were married on the day Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down. Demonstrators were blocking the streets in the embassy quarter of Tokyo, and we were trying to get back to the US Consulate from the Ward office to wrap things up before they closed; we only made it because the taxi drier used an inventive route through alleys and hotel parking lots and service entrances. We were intent on OUR major event. I suppose that was your folks' primary reaction too.
ReplyDeleteOh my, Renee--I can well imagine the haircut wasn't up to the barber's usual standard. But better to be getting a haircut done than some other things... [I guess that qualifies as black humor]. Miyoko and I were married on the day Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down. Demonstrators were blocking the streets in the embassy quarter of Tokyo, and we were trying to get back to the US Consulate from the Ward office to wrap things up before they closed; we only made it because the taxi drier used an inventive route through alleys and hotel parking lots and service entrances. We were intent on OUR major event. I suppose that was your folks' primary reaction too.
ReplyDelete