Re:California homeowners made more money in equity than work...
by imtringued on Sunday June 13, 2021 @09:00AM
(#27492208)
For some reason when there is a bailout for everyone from the poorest grandma to the richest investors on the planet, people worry about grandma the most. We can always arrange a bailout for vulnerable people, that's not the problem but everyone who can afford the taxes insists that they should get low property taxes because grandma cant afford them.
Humans are sentimental creatures though and "grandma has to sell her home" is a powerful image.
I think a good compromise, that would also allow Prop 13 to be phased out for good, is to allow primary residences below a certain value to deduct taxes against the home value up to the limit (ie defer payment until the person dies, then the estate settles the debt, most likely out of selling the home) and at that point not owe more. That way grandma never has to leave her home prematurely, society still captures the lost value of underutilized land somewhat, and there is no ridiculousness with commercial properties, inheritances, very wealthy people paying no taxes, etc.