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A comment on Los Angeles is spending up to $837k to house a single homeless person. Parent comment

Re:Los Angeles is spending up to $837k to house a single hom... by seanmcdirmid on Thursday February 24, 2022 @05:29PM (#30461216)
> Property taxes in general are a complete sham, what other item do you continually need to pay for after you own it?

City infrastructure needs constant maintnence, city services need to be constantly funded. And local schools (where most property tax in much of the USA goes) keep going even after your house is built (suffice it to say, areas with the best schools have the highest property taxes).

> And why is the amount you need to pay pegged to what other people in the neighborhood around you are doing?

The more developed your property is, the more city services you consume. And this is ignoring the speculation deterrence that property tax enforces, which is very important also.

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Re:Los Angeles is spending up to $837k to house a single hom... by muaytimbo on Thursday February 24, 2022 @06:40PM (#30461897)
This is demonstrably false, just because my property is "developed" (I'm not sure what developed vs non-developed means in this context) does not mean I consume more services. Homeowners are under no obligation to consume more city services because their property is nicer.
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Re:Los Angeles is spending up to $837k to house a single hom... by seanmcdirmid on Thursday February 24, 2022 @09:53PM (#30463229)
Value is a proxy for utilization. The alternative is a straight up land tax that would be unfair to those who decide to leave their property undeveloped.
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Re:Los Angeles is spending up to $837k to house a single hom... by muaytimbo on Thursday February 24, 2022 @11:10PM (#30463631)
False choice. Another option is no tax.
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Re:Los Angeles is spending up to $837k to house a single hom... by seanmcdirmid on Thursday February 24, 2022 @11:21PM (#30463684)
Oh yes. China doesn’t have a property tax and only a tax on property sales. The result is that apartments are seen as speculative assets and cost way more than they do even in the USA. The results of no tax on property are very predictable.
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