New Property Tax Increase (Memphis, Germantown: appointed, fit in, 2013)

[eastmemphisguy]

If we're playing this silly de-annexation game, take out everything north of Sam Cooper and south of Southern. You end up with a collection of well to do neighborhoods that can be taxed just as lightly as the burbs. All our stats would be as good as theirs too. That would be government run like a business.

[jabogitlu]

Well, I'm from Johnson City and I like Memphis just fine. Also, no one is arguing against your proposals, as vague as they may be. For instance, I completely agree that it's beyond time for more municipal services to be consolidated at the county level.

Not "subsidizing" corporate interests can be difficult. Who knows, for example, if International Paper was playing hardball or if they really would have pulled up and moved to God Knows Where?

I COMPLETELY agree that business and commerce is what defines a city. The best city planners use both existing and nascent businesses to leverage quality growth. I'm just saying that the growth needs to be directed inward. We have vast swathes of land deep inside the city limits that is, for lack of a better word, completely rubbish.

[Ginsaw]

The thread's main topic is rising property taxes, and whatever the general observations are about the human experience otherwise in Memphis, the fact remains that if you live in a nice house that the assessor thinks is worth about 200K then your combined taxes are roughly $4,000 a year and on a $100K home roughly half that. And picture this, suppose you're getting nailed with all that and at the same time are footing the bill for a loved one in a nursing home (I bet few here know that even a BAD nursing home runs roughly $70,000 a year private pay).

At the end of the day, those on fixed incomes like pensions and social security, just plain can't afford to contribute to all the noble causes going on here at that rate. And all the official whining for still higher taxes is putting salt in the open wound.

Something else - unless you're border line poverty level the so-called tax freeze is zero help. It wasn't much help even for those who qualify. I don't know why they even bothered with it. You're just stuck and about all you can do is sell and downsize or it's get out of town time. That's how it is.

The property taxes now are WAY too high, and are headed higher.

Btw, an interesting thing just happened. They upped our appraisal by $40,000. If that wasn't bad enough, they send a bill and guess what. It's incorrect. It's based on the old lesser appraisal. And there are time limits for paying it. And it gets even better. Guess what happens when you go question it. Well, first, you can't get anyone on the phone. Then you have to make a physical trip out to that place at Shelby Farms to find out what's going on. And when you get there you're told the county commission can't agree on the tax rate and somebody's supposed to send you a corrected notice at some point. And meantime's the deadline will be coming up. So what are you supposed to do? Who knows.

Isn't this a wonderful way to run a city and county?? This among probably a hundred other reasons leaves no doubt this particular city and county have outrun the meager skills of those in charge and the whole thing has become dysfunctional. And it will get worse. Lots worse.

Oh, since the Pyramid was mentioned, it should be studied in every class in urban planning and should be in the chapter entitled "How Not To Do It". But, it would be wasted reading for future city planners. They don't make those kinds of decisions. The fault is laid strictly at the feet of morons who have no business running for or holding public office of any sort. But who do and have held office here.

So what do you do? Leave? Probably. Or stay and do what? Run for public office? No. Because once "they" got a load of me stamping "NO" on every tax increase I wouldn't be too popular. But, I probably could get some good done with it. Maybe I could sandwich that in between the impeachment proceedings...

[Longtimelistener]

Living in this city sucks. End of debate.

[bluffcity]

even living in the county will be dragged down eventually

[knucklehead_vol]

Originally Posted by Longtimelistener

Living in this city sucks. End of debate.

Move.

[knucklehead_vol]

This is what happens when you have people like hereonton who ran the city into the ground for 20 years. Memphis is now paying for the debt, literally.

[Carlito Brigante]

Originally Posted by knucklehead_vol

Move.

It's not that easy for everybody to just drop what they do, pick up and move. So if you don't like Memphis then "just move"? Is that why you're "soon to be moving to Seattle?"

I'm not even trying to be combative, Knucklehead. I'm just asking, what influenced your decision and how easy is it for you to just pick up and move?

[Tigertate]

Originally Posted by Carlito Brigante

It's not that easy for everybody to just drop what they do, pick up and move. So if you don't like Memphis then "just move"? Is that why you're "soon to be moving to Seattle?"

I'm not even trying to be combative, Knucklehead. I'm just asking, what influenced your decision and how easy is it for you to just pick up and move?

Well if it is not that easy because you need something like JOB maybe people should STHU and be greatfull for what they have here and make the best of their situation. People here complain more than almost any region I have been to.

Come on people, we are really crying about the taxes here. Have you all ever lived anywhere else? Our overall tax burden is among the lowest in the nation. Please, complain about something else. I like many here would love to see property taxes reduced, but I also understand the economic reality of what local government is facing. The only reason the tax rate was increased is because of lower property value. Most people should probably be paying around the same amount they paid last year.

[Carlito Brigante]

Originally Posted by Tigertate

Well if it is not that easy because you need something like JOB maybe people should STHU and be greatfull for what they have here and make the best of their situation. People here complain more that almost any region I have been to.

Come on people, we are really crying about the taxes here. Have you all ever lived anywhere else? Our overall tax burden is among the lowest in the nation. Please, complain about something else. I like many here would love to see property taxes reduced, but I also understand the economic reality of what local government is facing. The only reason the tax rate was in creased is because of lowere property value.

You sound mad and hurt that not everybody is a cheerleader for Memphis like you. People DO have the right to feel differently than you, you know? And Memphis is also the most behind, most stagnant region that I've ever been to (which is frustrating because it has so much wasted potential), but that's MY experience and MY opinion. Who are you to tell ME or anyone else who disagrees with you or whose experiences and perspectives are different from yours otherwise? Memphis is also the worst region I've ever been to as far as people with such overly sensitive and automatically defensive attitudes, which also doesn't help things in Memphis, because that's energy that could be being used to give the city and region much some needed improvement, rather than just having a "just sit back and deal with it, pretend you really love and enjoy it, and make the most of it" attitude that you and a lot of other rose-colored glasses wearing Memphis cheerleaders advocate having.

I asked Knucklehead a simple, straight-forward, non-combative question and here you come with your tail in a twist and your "Captain Memphis, Defender of the Mid-South!!!" cape on trying to knock me for having a different perspective than yours. Sounds like you're the one who's "crying" to me, due to your super sensitive nature.