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by harryh 2329 days ago
I don't understand why that is a relevant question.
1 comments

Because people are always willing to tax other people's wealth.
Property taxes aren't wealth taxes, they're consumption taxes.

This is obvious when you consider the fact that a person who owns a piece of property outright pays the same property tax as someone who owns a similar piece of property but carries a mortgage.

Does a person who owns a $1 million dollar home "consume" more resources than a person who owns a $200K home? What if the homes are the same but in different parts of the city?
This is not a good argument. It would be the equivalent of me asking: Does the trash pickup service, repairing potholes or patrolling the street cost more if the home owner just moved in than if has own the house for 30 years?
Well, that does argue for my previous stated idea of charging every property owner the same fee for the same service.

Trash pickup is actually a great example. Where I live it’s not part of your property taxes. It’s a separate bill and everyone pays the same amount.

The city council can set budgets for the different departments and set taxes based on the budget. Neighborhoods already do something similar via homeowner’s association fees and condo fees.

Yes.
How so?
Some land is more valuable than other land. Living on top of more valuable land consumes a more valuable resource.