[avidiax]

How is it fair that two houses built side by side in the same year with the same floorplan might have one pay literally 10x the property tax than the other, merely because it changed hands? What's worse, the 10x house actually realized those capital gains, so the state also got that cash.

[CincinnatiMan]

Theoretically the house that changed hands, the new owners knew what they were signing up for and could verify their budget could handle the higher taxes. Whereas the original owners, whose home value has shot up significantly since purchase way back when, may not be able to pay for the new higher taxes if they were applied in full.

[eweise]

Simple, the people in the houses moved in at a different time. A house isn't just a thing you buy and sell. You live in the house, raise a family, become part of a community. My neighbor across the street bought her house 30 years ago. She's an artist and doesn't make much money. She is well known in the community. Should she be forced out of her house so that some rich tech worker can move in?

If want to cry unfair, then it would be better to aim at commercial real estate. That's a pure money business. Why should they get protection under prop 13? Make no sense at all.

[refurb]

You don’t force her out of her house, you simply allow her to defer the taxes until she sells or dies.

Why should some whose house went from $200k to $2M be getting a tax break?

[jjav]

> Why should some whose house went from $200k to $2M be getting a tax break?

Because they bought a 200K house and budgeted for taxes on a 200K house.

The paper estimate of it being worth 2M right now doesn't change anything about the house they actually live in.

[refurb]

So you feel the right solution is to give millionaires massive tax breaks and have middle class folks who can barely afford a house pick up the slack?

It is absurd and an anomaly. Let them stay, but when the reap a $1M+ profit on the house when they sell or die, they can pony up the tax, just like everyone else.

[jjav]

> So you feel the right solution is to give millionaires massive tax breaks and have middle class folks who can barely afford a house pick up the slack?

I did not say that so I don't mean that.

If a low/middle class person buy the house they can afford to pay and live in it, they don't become millionaires just because other people around them bought houses more expensively later. They're most likely still in the same career earning that same low/middle class income. They don't have any additional money to pay much higher property taxes, they are certainly not millionaires.

Tax them after sale, sure, if the property value is still high when they sell (it might not be).

[curryst]

Which is why you let people defer them, rather than just getting rid of them.

If they budgeted for a 200k house, that turned into a 2M house, they should be ecstatic when they sell it, the government takes the property taxes and they still get to keep more than 200k.

[imtringued]

Don't you dare touch the holy commercial real estate that is luring in all those stupid techies who are driving up the value of my house. Oh god I hate techies, I made this neighborhood good for them, they are taking advantage of my hard work and now they dare to come here and settle down? Preposterous. Look at all the landlords kissing their asses by building expensive luxury apartments so they have a place to live in and driving up the price of housing. I bought this neighborhood without the techies and they should stay outside.

This is satire. Please do not take it seriously.

[rcpt]

> A house isn't just a thing you buy and sell

Oh great I'll take one of those. Maybe two. Where do I sign up?