Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Are you saying your commissioners make the breezes blow and the sun come up in the morning?
My little town would have zero crime - with or without our police force. That Republican town I used to live in (with the high taxes) had 55 officers on the force for 20K people...and no crime (before we had the police...and after).....
I'm simply stating that, in general, things cost money. Obviously it costs more to live in the most populated cities in the USA.....not exactly a brilliant deduction! Beachfront property costs more too - and the taxes are higher there...even tho a hurricane might blow you away.
But, in general, we have to pay for nice things if we want them.
46% of people in the entire state of Florida live at a level when they cannot make basic ends meets. That should give some indication of whether we are the Shining City on the Hill.
BTW, my family has lived in both Las Olas and Bal Harbor. I used to read the news there and shake my head. I especially enjoyed reading about the local Po-Lice who kept the entire country safe.....
If you think that is the only corrupt department in Florida, I have some nice dry land here at 5 feet above current sea level....inland about 8 miles...to sell you as lots.
Pointing to Florida (Quality of life is rated #34 in the nation - vast monies come from old people, russian and drug connected person, etc....who don't need schools and services and may not even spend much time there) is NOT a real economy.
No, I am saying that my commissioners spend our tax dollars wisely. My school board spends our tax dollars wisely. And while I don't live within the city limits, the city council spends their resident's taxes wisely. I am not sure how each commissioner identifies politically, but I was appointed to the Board of Tax Accessors by a Democrat for the purpose of reigning in a poorly performing department. Again, responsible revenue management.
Conversely, the adjacent county and city have significantly higher millage rates (among the highest in the state) and subsequent property taxes, an inferior school system, ridiculously high crime rates and a poverty rate exceeding 30%. All but one are Democrats, by the way.
I can write a book about how the adjacent municipalities have declined from the 5th largest and most prosperous in the state to now being recognized as one of the top ten "worst cities (in the US) to live in based on the quality of life" by USA Today. But here's just one example.
The Commission Chairman works for a prominent law firm. That law firm represents local "nonprofit" hospital. The Commission appointed the Hospital Authority Board that oversees certain aspects of the nonprofit hospital. Said nonprofit hospital owns nearly 100 abandoned properties that are not being used for patient healthcare or related support services. Rather than assess the abandoned properties, as State Law requires, the commission ignores it. 100 abandoned properties that are now off the digest. Now, the taxpayer is on the hook to make up the difference while the "nonprofit" executives make millions (literally) and the law firm representing them grow very wealthy. The Grand Jury has twice recommended a review of these abandoned properties but the commission has ignored it.
Ok, one more. Partly because the commission doesn't hold the hospital authority accountable nor adhere to state law in regards to property taxes, said nonprofit hospital is amongst the highest in healthcare cost in the nation. So high in fact that the commission negotiated a +$7,000.000.00 tax abatement to one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world to offset the high medical insurance premiums as a result of the high cost of local healthcare just to keep them from shuttering their plant. And even then, the manufacturer's premiums are 19% higher here than anywhere else in the nation. Again, the taxpayer is on the hook. And with a 32.7% poverty level, a very small group of people are bearing that burden.
The reality is there are far fewer municipalities spending their revenues wisely than those that do. Party affiliation has little to do with it. Each taxpayer has the right and civic dutie to hold their representatives accountable and demand their tax money is not wasted, or what happens in most events, siphoned off by politicians and bureacrats.
Another poster named the cities/property taxes. I only presented the facts regarding those cities with facts in the form of links.
Good. Enjoy your tax hike due to the new SALT deduction limit. It's about time you started paying something even somewhat close to your fair share.
Don't get mad ...get even! Add what you can't deduct of your "SALT Overflow" to your Medical Deductions ...as in "these non-deductable taxes raise my blood pressure". Everyone knows that excess SALT can cause that problem. Now it's "deductable" and will pass the IRS smell test! Makes sense to the H&R Block and IRS computers. Taxes sent out on Thursday and refund deposited in bank a week and a day later! Works for me!
The standard deduction was also nearly doubled, from $13,500 to $24,000.00
No complaints about that.
I haven't studied it, but my biggest complaints are:
1. It actually HURT the Federal deficit and debt.....that is, we aren't collecting anywhere near enough to balance the budget.....and, no, I don't want to hear talking points about cutting spending. It's fine to do so, but we KNOW what the current bills are.
2. It gave most of the debt/deficit money to big corporations...who honestly said they didn't need it. Ask Warren Buffet. Maybe the money should have gone to a Trump promise - better health care cheaper for ALL???
3. The bigger break(s) went to Trump types - Real Estate Investors. I don't see why they need to be singled out for the biggest breaks while everyone else gets zilch.
I'm all for the simplification. Why not add a VAT and balance the budget and be done with it? Increase the corporate rate back to where it was, do away with RE loopholes for Trump himself, give Medicare-for-all, and keep the basic forms simple.
The problem with a "partial good idea" is that it ends up doing bad things. We could redesign one wing of an airliner...and, guess what? It wouldn't fly right unless both wings (both sides of the equation) balanced.
NOT collecting enough Fed. Tax money is a stupid idea...only worthy of the King of Debt. To quote the right "hey, we all balance our home and business budgets"....so why is anyone happy about NOT doing so?
I haven't studied it, but my biggest complaints are:
1. It actually HURT the Federal deficit and debt.....that is, we aren't collecting anywhere near enough to balance the budget.....and, no, I don't want to hear talking points about cutting spending. It's fine to do so, but we KNOW what the current bills are.
2. It gave most of the debt/deficit money to big corporations...who honestly said they didn't need it. Ask Warren Buffet. Maybe the money should have gone to a Trump promise - better health care cheaper for ALL???
Oh, please. Warren Buffet did the Burger King tax inversion to avoid US taxes. The parent company is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Restaurant Brands International. All the offshore profits are run through the parent company, which means they're no longer taxed in the US like they used to be.
Quote:
3. The bigger break(s) went to Trump types - Real Estate Investors. I don't see why they need to be singled out for the biggest breaks while everyone else gets zilch.
I'm all for the simplification. Why not add a VAT and balance the budget and be done with it? Increase the corporate rate back to where it was, do away with RE loopholes for Trump himself, give Medicare-for-all, and keep the basic forms simple.
The problem with a "partial good idea" is that it ends up doing bad things. We could redesign one wing of an airliner...and, guess what? It wouldn't fly right unless both wings (both sides of the equation) balanced.
NOT collecting enough Fed. Tax money is a stupid idea...only worthy of the King of Debt. To quote the right "hey, we all balance our home and business budgets"....so why is anyone happy about NOT doing so?
Adding a VAT is a good idea. 20%-25% like European countries have. Increasing the corporate tax will never happen as it's so easy to avoid. Just look at the BK tax inversion Warren Buffet accomplished.
Coral Ridge and Las Olas are two different areas. Either way, you seem to be missing he point.
Zillow, and most local web resources do not indicate much distinction in location.
However, I seem to recall that you attempted to make a point about effective tax rates in Illinois, Texas, and Florida being roughly the same when CLEARLY they are not. In each example, I provided demonstrates that homes of roughly the same FMV in Cook County will cost significantly more in property taxes while at the same time smaller, in a less desirable area with higher crime rates.
Oh, please. Warren Buffet did the Burger King tax inversion to avoid US taxes. The parent company is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Restaurant Brands International. All the offshore profits are run through the parent company, which means they're no longer taxed in the US like they used to be.
Adding a VAT is a good idea. 20%-25% like European countries have. Increasing the corporate tax will never happen as it's so easy to avoid. Just look at the BK tax inversion Warren Buffet accomplished.
Yeah, for someone who's always complaining that his personal and business taxes aren't high enough, nor are everyone else's, Buffet sure does do as much as possible to avoid them.
Most of those angry are thos in states with high taxes. They used to get a subsidy from the rest of the states by being able to deduct most of their high state and local taxes, plus all the interest on their mansions. The last tax bill reduced their maximum deduction for interest and taxes to 10,000. Thats why the liberals in these states are crying, which I dont get. Why are liberals, who love big govt and high taxes complaining about higher taxes?
Yeah, for someone who's always complaining that his personal and business taxes aren't high enough, nor are everyone else's, Buffet sure does do as much as possible to avoid them.
That's the game and most of it has not changed.
Buffet generally doesn't manage or micro-manage any of his holdings....
No doubt - the corporate rate didn't need to be lowered because almost no one pays it anyway. That was the case before and will be the case after. So why fiddle with it? I can understand maybe lowering it a bit for PR reasons...but you'd also have to then cut the loopholes so you collected as much or more.
In the end I simply want things to be closer to balanced.....or even a surplus to start paying down the National Debt.
Real Tax Reform would be exactly like my "Real Household Budget Reform"...that is, income must exceed expenses no matter what the gory details are.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Warren Buffet did the Burger King tax inversion to avoid US taxes. The parent company is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Restaurant Brands International. All the offshore profits are run through the parent company, which means they're no longer taxed in the US like they used to be.
