MEANINGLESS TAXES - FEEDING THE SOCIALIST BEAST

I received a communication yesterday from a man who lives in Mitchell County, North Carolina.  I feel compelled to share it with you all.  He said:

    Hello Cheryl, I just read your Agenda 21 speech - impressive! We too live in North Carolina, in Mitchell County near the headwaters of the Catawba River and we are very concerned about Agenda 21 spin offs where we live. Lately there has been a tremendous influx of progressives into the county and they have been making their voices heard. We now have a View Tax which I am looking into so that we can petition a repeal.

The location he mentions is at the northern edge of the State of North Carolina.  The "View Tax" of which he speaks is a cute little add on to property taxes, taking money from property owners based on the view from their property.  Property that used to be assessed by some monetary figure of building value or market value is now being taxed based on the view?  Yep.  You read that right.  This tax is being added as an extra line item on tax forms. 

Looking into this, I found an article on this tax in New Hampshire.  It says:

  David Bischoff, chairman of the Board of Selectman in Orford, is one of those people.

Bischoff owns a one-room cabin with no electricity, no running water, no phone service, and no driveway. In his case, the "view factor" led to a property valuation of over $200,000 by state property assessors. He will likely be billed $4,000 a year for property taxes on a cabin that cost only $9,000 to build. 

And here is another one  from New Hampshire:

Too bad, citizen.  Because New Hampshire tax assessors have also discovered the “view factor,” the view TAX.  Simply put, they take the normative property value and move the tax assessment way on up just because you have that view.  Some towns now even have separate lines on the appraisal records for the view.

In one case reported by the Associated Press, “the view added $140,000 to [the] property’s underlying value of $22,900.  The property owner’s taxes are thus expected “to jump from less than $500 last year to more than $3,000 this year.”  That’s not an incremental tax increase.  That assesses a subjective “view” at six times the value of the property, from one year to the next.

So, what is going on here?  Suddenly people are being punished because their property has a view of something and, therefore, must have a separate tax to justify owning it?  Property taxes used to be figured by the building cost and the market value of the property.  Can't have that, now can we?  We must have something for bureaucrats to do, so we'll allow them to ponder the tax value of a view.  Surely that will pay for quite a few of their salaries, eh?

Oh, but wait!  In looking around for information on this I came across some history and a possible source for this madness.  It seems this has been going on in the U.K. for quite some time.  Not only a view tax, but a partial view tax, a patio tax, an off street parking tax, a balcony tax, a garden tax, and more.  You'll have to see it to believe it.

Well, you know if Europe does it, we are not far behind.  Thought we fought a revolution to remove ourselves from their tyranny. 

Here is a bit of trivia for you From the Daily Mail

In 1696 the Government introduced the Window Tax - a property was taxed according to the number of windows it had. The tax, which was eventually repealed in 1851, was hugely unpopular.

To reduce their tax burden some would brick up their windows - we can still see this legacy today on some of the architecture from the period - and the origins of the term ‘Daylight Robbery’ are thought to originate from this tax.

People who produce nothing only know how to steal money from others.  Try to tell them no and they throw tantrums and call you names...and send in the taxman with armed forces to collect. We really are feeding a Socialist beast here in Amerika these days. Under Obama this beast has gotten very very fat.  Obesity is a problem alright.  It's government obesity that is the problem. 

Funny thing is, the money ran out a long time ago.  $16 Trillion ago, actually.  That didn't matter...the beast must be fed....which then makes the government come after you to pay for the feast.