Why so high ?

[Fetch]

http://local.dexknows.com/property-tax-rates-by-state-find-out-where-you-rank/

& why this ? http://local.dexknows.com/property-tax-rates-by-state-find-out-where-you-rank/

[The Sicatoka]

First, what a poor topic line. Why not "Property Taxes - Why so high?"

Some context of what you're talking about (without having to click a link) would be nice.

Second, a tax rate is just that, a tax rate. You have to also figure in valuations of the properties. Then you can determine revenues generated.

Yeah, in ND it's 1.42 percent of home value, but what is the average home value?

If it costs $100k per year to have a county sheriff, but your county property values are very low, you need to have a high tax rate to raise the $100k when compared to a county with high property values.

[Fetch]

got u to look

why have taxes at all

why not let everyone in the State benefit from the oil

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Gotta have taxes. But I still maintain that property taxes are fundamentally wrong. (I know the measure failed and all that) Its not right that you have to "rent" your land from the government.

[Cratter]

Sorta like Minnesota not having to pay taxes on clothing cause its an essential item. Shelter is also sorta an essential necessity.

[82SiouxGuy]

The chart that started this thread is absolutely meaningless, because it doesn't provide any real information. tSic mentions one of the factors that needs to be considered. The chart also doesn't tell us what is being paid for using those taxes, what other taxes are being levied, the amounts of other taxes, what other sources of income the entity has available, what do these other taxes and other sources of income pay for, etc. A real discussion of taxation has to include all money coming into the government, and all spending. A lot of governmental entities use a variety of fees to replace taxes. Taxes have been levied on almost everything over the years. But a discussion about the tax rate alone is meaningless and impossible to compare with other states or entities.

A discussion about whether property taxes should be used is a viable topic. One of the main reasons that the measure failed last fall was because there was no plan to replace the tax revenue. It was written very vaguely to say that the legislature would figure it out. As we can see with this legislative session, that probably isn't a good plan. It also left most of the decision making power in Bismarck, largely removing the local entities from the process. The local entities depend on property taxes, those are the only taxes available to some local entities. Making them go to the legislature to ask for every dime isn't an effective way to run a government. If someone came up with a plan that replaced property taxes with other revenue sources, and still gave the local entities some control over those revenue sources, then they would have something that would have a good chance of passing.