Growls

This story in last Tuesday's Christian Science Monitor described what states are doing "to ease property-tax rise." For example, "123 property-tax relief bills have been introduced" in the New Jersey legislature while "Sen. Jon Corzine, the front-running Democratic candidate, announced his support for the (constitutional) convention and for lowering property taxes." To push the idea of a convention, Citizens for Property Tax Reform has a "tea party" planned for June 16 in Trenton. The article quoted an expert on property taxes who said, "Almost every state is looking at some form of property-tax cap." In addition, "The talk of a real estate bubble is causing additional angst because many homeowners are afraid that their taxes may be based on a market value that no longer exists." Two Virginians, both members of Virginians Over-Taxed on Residences (VOTORS), including its chairman and founder, were cited in the article. Unfortunately, a point little-mentioned is that if government, especially local government in the case of real estate property taxes, were not so greedy, there would be far less pressure for taxpayers to revolt.