[tallrick]

Originally Posted by Sunandsand

My grandpa gave me advice years ago....a young person should hope for recessions or depressions as thats when the opportunities to make money appear.

And yes, he survived the great depression...and he made a ton of money in the following 40 years....a heck of a lot more than your grannies silly advice would have yielded.

This is my theory as well. Someone finally sees why I have been hoping for an economic crash, it will open up opportunities for the talented.

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by tallrick

This is my theory as well. Someone finally sees why I have been hoping for an economic crash, it will open up opportunities for the talented.

Go look up the current value of the US $ vs. the Euro or even the Canadian. The Fed already IS pumping up the market and printing more money.

Monolopy money is what we have.

[tallrick]

This is what has been worrying me. Also notice how valuable scrap metal has become. We are on our last legs from the momentum of the past. People are stealing copper and aluminum to get $$$, they are definately send us to hyperinflation. I wish there was more we could do to fix this.

[floridasandy]

property tax elimination is an excellent idea. we would be the only state in the country with that option and clearly that would be an incentive for growth in the state. housing prices would finally stabilize, jobs would be created, and businesses would boom (thereby increasing sales tax volumes). there is already enough animosity down here between the people that subsidize other peoples property (since that clearly is what is going on) and there is no real incentive for investment in the state, since you are penalized for not being homesteaded. of course, cutting the ridiculous spending by our politicians would be the best thing but that is simply not going to happen. i am in indian river county where our politicians are clearly out of control. all we can do is vote them out when election time approaches....

[stacylee926]

After reading the topic I was a little ticked off at the original poster and did not read every comment... I also think I understand that the original bill was not passed so this is probably a mute point....

The poster lives in California - therefore, if property taxes went away and the revenue was added to sales tax, how does that benefit Floridians??? The poster will not pay property taxes OR sales tax because she isn't in Florida to buy anything! Floridians will pay HER taxes on HER investment property!!!!
Investment properties are bought to make money - not as personal housing. The REAL issue is about Floridians not being able to afford their own houses - not 'poor' people in California who can't afford their 'investment properties'.

Give me a break!!! I have no sympathy for the poster and hope that Florida does something to help RESIDENTS who support the local economy.

[tallrick]

I agree, out of state owners should be taxed for their property as well as properties used for commercial purposes. But removing property taxes from a home is the right thing to do. I do support fees for garbage pickup. road maintenance, basic police and fire services, but there's a LOT of sales tax money available for this. Another idea is to charge sales tax on investment property sales. The current state and county budgets could be cut by 50% and eliminate a LOT of waste. The only good thing about property taxes is it removes the incentive to "Latin Americanize" Florida by having a handful of wealty people owning all the property. Residents who are part of the local economy should be exempt. Also resident-occupied rentals should get a tax break if they meet certain criterion.

[JimMe]

I read this thread with great interest. I'm not a Florida resident but hope to be in a few years. My position is that any proposal that starves government--at all levels--is a good thing. I believe that is in keeping with the Spirit of the Revolution of 1776. When you think about it, little by little we have given back everything for which our forebears fought and died.

The discussion regarding the poster's suggestion to eliminate property taxes follows a predictable course. Here in Maine the voters recently had the opportunity to vote on a measure to limit the growth of state government. You should have heard the howls! Schools are going to be closed. Fire houses are going to be closed. There won't be enough police to protect us. All the interest groups feeding at the public trough were in full dudgeon. That way they divide and conquer. Just like on this thread. Predictably the measure was rejected. I saw it happen in Missouri, as well.

So you know I hate taxation as a matter of principle. As to the merits of the specific proposal it is time to do away with the property tax. It it is a throw back to a byegone era when only two forms of taxation were known: property and excise taxes. That is because there were only two forms of wealth: property and commerce. In effect, therefore, only the wealthy were taxed: those who owned property and those who engaged in commerce. In other words, the wealthy. Today property ownership has been democratized. It is an essential element of the American dream. And by continuing to tax property we make the dream more elusive and difficult to achieve.

Moreover the property tax is at bottom grossly unfair. It is intended to pay for local services like public education, fire and police protection, road construction and maintainance, etc. But are property owners the only ones who use these services? The answer is self-evident. Everybody uses the roads or has their children educated at public expense. So why shouldn't everybody contribute to the support of such services? We need a tax system that reflects that fact. My solution: eliminate the property tax and raise the sales tax a percentage point or two. Spread the pain. When everybody pays, the bast---- will be less likely to play one group off against the other.

[Jareb]

Originally Posted by JimMe

I read this thread with great interest. I'm not a Florida resident but hope to be in a few years. My position is that any proposal that starves government--at all levels--is a good thing. I believe that is in keeping with the Spirit of the Revolution of 1776. When you think about it, little by little we have given back everything for which our forebears fought and died.

The discussion regarding the poster's suggestion to eliminate property taxes follows a predictable course. Here in Maine the voters recently had the opportunity to vote on a measure to limit the growth of state government. You should have heard the howls! Schools are going to be closed. Fire houses are going to be closed. There won't be enough police to protect us. All the interest groups feeding at the public trough were in full dudgeon. That way they divide and conquer. Just like on this thread. Predictably the measure was rejected. I saw it happen in Missouri, as well.

So you know I hate taxation as a matter of principle. As to the merits of the specific proposal it is time to do away with the property tax. It it is a throw back to a byegone era when only two forms of taxation were known: property and excise taxes. That is because there were only two forms of wealth: property and commerce. In effect, therefore, only the wealthy were taxed: those who owned property and those who engaged in commerce. In other words, the wealthy. Today property ownership has been democratized. It is an essential element of the American dream. And by continuing to tax property we make the dream more elusive and difficult to achieve.

Moreover the property tax is at bottom grossly unfair. It is intended to pay for local services like public education, fire and police protection, road construction and maintainance, etc. But are property owners the only ones who use these services? The answer is self-evident. Everybody uses the roads or has their children educated at public expense. So why shouldn't everybody contribute to the support of such services? We need a tax system that reflects that fact. My solution: eliminate the property tax and raise the sales tax a percentage point or two. Spread the pain. When everybody pays, the bast---- will be less likely to play one group off against the other.

Thank You JimMe!
I could not have said it better. Income as well as property tax should be eliminated and replaced with a consumption{sales}tax. That way no one slips through the cracks.
John