Springs " new resident" fee (Denver, Colorado Springs: sales, real estate, apartment)

[amerifree]

With the growing, and seemingly endless, number of people who are squeezing into Colorado springs and surrounding areas, wouldn't it make sense to have a "new residents tax" or similar fee to pick up the increased burden on established Colorado citizens?
Our roads are congested worse than LA, housing is becoming a cutthroat competition, unemployment is skyrocketing along with food stamps and welfare applications.
I understand growth is good, but too much growth is becoming detrimental to the lifestyle of Coloradans, and we should all benefit from the sacrifices we make for the flood of newcomers.
This would be similar to the out of state vehicle registration fee.

[captain_hug99]

No, I think it makes more sense if the home builders have to pay the local police, fire, schools a certain amount for every home built in a new area.

[JohnCurtisEstes]

I don't know if this would ever happen, they want the same thing in Denver too!


new residence tax


Denver is having huge issues w/ people that move there and can not afford the rent and housing costs there so many are now coming our way. They buy in the north part of town and then commute. That is why all of the apartment construction is on North Powers and those areas.


They can have it- I would hate to have to drive I25 every day especially in winter.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by amerifree

With the growing, and seemingly endless, number of people who are squeezing into Colorado springs and surrounding areas, wouldn't it make sense to have a "new residents tax" or similar fee to pick up the increased burden on established Colorado citizens?
Our roads are congested worse than LA, housing is becoming a cutthroat competition, unemployment is skyrocketing along with food stamps and welfare applications.
I understand growth is good, but too much growth is becoming detrimental to the lifestyle of Coloradans, and we should all benefit from the sacrifices we make for the flood of newcomers.
This would be similar to the out of state vehicle registration fee.

New residents pay taxes just like Colorado natives, and those taxes go to roads and public works. Who do you think those new residents are buying those houses from, causing cutthroat competition? Established residents!

This idea sounds incredibly similar to the argument that immigrants to the US are taking all of our jobs and causing myraid social ills. New residents do bring new things of value to the table. They aren't leeches.

Originally Posted by amerifree

Our roads are congested worse than LA,

You can't possibly be serious.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by captain_hug99

No, I think it makes more sense if the home builders have to pay the local police, fire, schools a certain amount for every home built in a new area.

That new house does represent an increase in tax revenue, though. Property taxes on a developed piece of land with 25 houses on it are far higher than a vacant piece of land with no houses on it. That's what I don't understand about this idea -- new residents already increase tax revenue through existing channels such as property taxes, sales taxes and state income taxes. Inasmuch as they contribute to the competitive housing market, they increase housing values for existing homeowners. I'm not saying that a more crowded city is inherently desirable or that everyone should prefer it, but it is false that these new residents are skirting by without making a proper tax contribution.

[shanen]

It'd make more sense to just increase our property tax rates to that of similar sized cities instead of a fraction of them.

[smdensbcs]

A "new resident" fee is probably both impractical and unconstitutional but it's practical equivalent could in theory be accomplished by adapting someting along the lines of California's late 1970's era "Prop 13" which effectively freezes property taxes for those who own appreciating real estate when the vote occurs and shifts higher property tax rates to both future generations of homebuyers and to those who move into an area in future years. In CA, the property effective property tax rate for someone who bought their house this year (and has little or no home equity) is 1% of value annually whereas it's probably somewhere around 0.02% of house value for someone who bought their house in 1975 and is sitting on a million or more in equity.

Something like that is really a brilliant example of shifting one's own tax burden onto others who aren't currently present but who will likely eventually show up. Frankly, I'm surprised the the (ahem) "crafty" geniuses behind the tax revenue handcuffs we operate with in CO haven't come up with someting like this, as it's such an amazing way to shift "our" tax burden onto others who don't yet have a say. The federal govt gets to do that by running a massive deficit but local and state govt's haven't been nearly as creative as CA voters in the late 1970's were in the business of shifting tax burdens to future generations and outsiders. I mean c'mon we're mostrously selfish humans, it's what we do. Let's get on the ball, guys and get something like that here!

[coschristi]

Originally Posted by captain_hug99

No, I think it makes more sense if the home builders have to pay the local police, fire, schools a certain amount for every home built in a new area.

I kinda like your idea. Maybe it would breathe some life back into some of our established & beautiful neighborhoods...& D11.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by coschristi

I kinda like your idea. Maybe it would breathe some life back into some of our established & beautiful neighborhoods...& D11.

This is how our county does it... Impact Fee for changing use of land(from bare to houses, or from residential to commercial). Varies a lot by tax jurisdiction, but ranges from $5k to $50k on residential. Commercial is many times that ammout. It can be fair, +/- since it reflects the additional burden on services.

Originally Posted by shanen

It'd make more sense to just increase our property tax rates to that of similar sized cities instead of a fraction of them.

Be careful what you wish for... This gives government a blank check. They are not the most efficient organization, so expect some excess. (Employees, offices, equipment, costs, ... That you may be stuck with into perpetuity.

I was taxed out of Colo in late 1970s. My new domicile was toleratable on prop taxes until 2000 fiscal crisis. (tho growing at 300 residents per month for many years).
Then... State voted to cap prop tax increases, state supreme count threw out the vote saying it would restrict state from getting needed revenue. Subsquently, my taxes which had been under $1000/ yr grew to $14,400/ yr and will see another 22% increase for next yr. Yes, I pay over $40 / day taxes for a home that cost me $88k to build. Tax assessor says, "sell it to a rich Californian". They aren't used to paying $40/ day in taxes.

The issue becomes a problem when you retire / get disabled and income becomes Zero.
You will displace elderly and unemployed if you give taxing authority a blank check.

[captain_hug99]

Originally Posted by Wittgenstein's Ghost

New residents pay taxes just like Colorado natives, and those taxes go to roads and public works. Who do you think those new residents are buying those houses from, causing cutthroat competition? Established residents!

True, however, those new residence cause an immediate impact on police, fire, and schools which the yearly taxes will not catch up with for many years. If each builder was required to put say $10,000 into a fund for each new home (say $2000 for each apartment), and that fund would go to ensuring that there are enough police officers, fire fighters, and schools available for those new residences, it would go a long way, especially in boom areas such as the far eastern side of Colorado Springs and Falcon.

Meridian Ranch has hundreds of new houses, Banning Lewis Ranch has several hundred as well. Yet the schools that serve those areas don't have enough space in them to hold the new families moving in. Lets say that the builder needs to pay $10,000 for each single family home built and 6,000 goes towards schools. Consider there are likely close to 600 new homes already built in the Meridian Ranch area. That is $3.6M going into schools to help support those families. $2.4M towards police and fire.