[magellan]

Originally Posted by rutha1105

Can any of you who actually like Michigan give me just one reason why I should stay here, when my property taxes were raised $200 more per year (that rate of inflation thing), they are now double from what they were when I bought it, and I can't sell my house for 2/3 of what I paid just 5 years ago? My job has went south-literally- and now we are trying to survive on one income. Something has GOT to give.

Nope, I can't. If you can't make a living in any particular place, why in the world would you stay there?

But I think you can sell your house for more than 2/3's of what you paid five years ago, unless you were completely taken back then.

[ByeByeMI]

We are SOOOOOOO thankful we sold our house and are out from under the ever increasing life sucking, blood sucking property taxes in MI. We are renting and have not one single regret. It is sad, sad, sad to see what is happening to so many hard working families. We were paying over $4K per year for what???? Plowing our streets in the winter, when they finally got around to it, that is about all we saw for our hard earned money. We will never be homeowers again in MI. Not with the tax liability they put on homeowners.

[Driller1]

OK, I have a question. The people complaining about their property taxes, how much of this were things like running city water, and millages that were voted in?

I know where we live we pay no school mileage, but there is frequently voting on "add-on" mills. How much is your local municipalities?

[Driller1]

Note: To the south of me they are running city water, to the west, the DEQ has ordered construction of sewers in Billlings township. Now some people in these areas will be losing their homes to taxes. These are all local things.

[Frankawitz]

Ok you say I want welfare cuts No not really, I was thinking more a long the lines of State employees and other Goverment workers taking pay cuts. Like house Democrats wanting to Vote themselfs a pay raise. Or how about cutting the money to the Universties or why don't they hold the road construction companies to a guarantee that our roads last longer then five years, so we can cut the Gas Tax. or why is it we pay tax on food, utilities,Income,Death, Business,Property am I forgetting any of the many TAXES we all pay. but I guess most people like to work paying the Goverment when we should be telling AZZHOLES like Carl Levin and Sandra Levin, to take pay cuts. Why is it everyone in the country has to down size but the American people don't make their elected Officals take pay cut like we do? Could one of you Democrats could answer that one?

[Driller1]

No food tax in Michigan. The weather is why our roads are costly. Death? Unless you are in the top 1% of the country, no.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Driller1

No food tax in Michigan. The weather is why our roads are costly. Death? Unless you are in the top 1% of the country, no.

Thank you Driller. I was going to say the same thing.

They have also cut A LOT of money going to Michigan universities. Payroll (number of state employees) is down 15% from 2000, and to 1978 levels (even though the State's population is larger today). But I agree that it's no time for politicians (anywhere) to be giving themselves pay raises. Not until the State and Federal budgets are balanced and the federal government restores funding to the States that they have drastically cut. Remember that the current group in Washington has made MASSIVE cuts to State governments as part of their tax plan, which also hasn't helped Michigan's situation.

Property taxes are VERY MUCH locally driven, as has been pointed out numerous times in this thread. If your taxes are high, you can probably move within a few miles of your current home into a new municipality and find drastically lower taxes. You can also appeal your assessed/taxable value if you can show that similar homes have sold for less in the last 6 mos./year.

[rutha1105]

I don't think I paid too much 5 years ago, it appraised for a _little_ more, we put the house up for sale last summer when I knew my job was leaving and had a few lookers, no offers. I still am working only part time at an entry level job, would like to do what I am trained for and good at! I have talked to the real estate person I listed with last year, he is not optimistic about prices, as half the houses on my road are for sale (some for a couple of years) and the foreclosure rate in the next county is high.

[kirkifer]

It is getting very expensive to live here and many places in this country due the massive entitlements being handed out across the board. Someone hit this earlier by noticing the massive populations of people who do nothing but collect welfare. Do not let me sound bigoted. The problem includes welfare for the poor all the way up to the multi-national corporations. It is in a state of runaway escalation.

IT IS TIME to start paying attention to politics and who is actually running things in this country. The 2008 Presidential election is extremely pivotal to the future of this country. My choice is Ron Paul, because he wants to put a stop to this nonsense. If we do not, no place in this country will escape this ever increasing financial burden. A burden that will see us all suffer and lose the way of life we have grown accustomed to living.

The American Republic can not last if we continue to allow our jobs to go to other countries all while illegal immigration and war spending runs completely unchecked.

[ALVISTO]

Originally Posted by magellan

Isn't cutting back on the prison population and the number of state troopers "cutting spending"? Plus, I just read that a number of state parks are closing early this year due to "reduced spending". College eduction funding = cuts. Revenue sharing to local governments = cuts. And on and on. What other cuts are you looking for? Move the state government into a hunting shack?

The Michigan Municipal League put out a piece that gives a good run down of how much smaller Michigan's budget is today compared to 2000 (adjusted for inflation, it's even smaller than it was in 1989). The number of state workers is drastically lower too.

http://www.mml.org/legislative/pdf/mfrp/brochurecombinedred.pdf (broken link)
(starts on page 2)

Since Michigan is not a high-tax state compared to the national average, I think people need to pull their heads out of the sand and look at the possibility of strategic tax increases (that are fair and won't kill struggling families).

But for the people who have decided they are moving to another state, I don't quite see why it would matter (???)

Move to Florida and see what high taxes are like. Also find out how expensive it is to buy one vacant acre. We have the most desirable weather other than Hawaii but wages here is a laughing matter.

The old saying goes...you can't have your cake and eat it too! Some do though around Miami Beach.