Dear Editor,
Re: “Assessments way too high,” Letters, Dec. 21.
Andy Hobbs is correct when he says property assessments are too high. But let us not lose sight of the real problem, which is that our property taxes are too high. This is because property taxes are driven by the sky-high property assessments. They increase in lock step with the assessments.
This funding model is wrong and needs to be changed. Why should taxes be driven by the price of a piece of property? Taxes need to be assessed based on the cost of services each citizen receives from the city government, not by the unrealistic price tag attached to our homes.
While our taxes have increased by far more than 50 per cent in recent years, the fact remains that our services have not improved by anywhere near 50 per cent in the same time frame. In fact, they have been reduced. Garbage collection is now bi-weekly where it used to be weekly. Our street lights still burn out at the same rate. The swimming pools and tennis courts are still the same. The grass in the parks doesn’t grow any faster. What in blazes does the city need these unconscionable increases for?
Until the city can come up with a tax model that is fair and not based on worldwide real estate prices, they need to pass a law that restricts homeowner tax increases to the rate of inflation.
Any candidate for council that runs on that platform will get my vote, and Mr. Hobbs will be first in line.
Marilyn Baker
Richmond
