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Latest post 01-21-2007 6:26 PM by Anonymous. 5 replies.
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  • 01-01-2001 12:00 AM

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    • Joined on 11-19-2008

    2007 House Bill 1364 (Providing property tax relief for senior citizens and persons retired by reason of physical disability by increasing the income thresholds.)

    Introduced in the House on January 17, 2007

    Click here to view bill details.
  • 01-18-2007 8:49 PM In reply to

    need to consider net worth

    All of the attempts to reduce taxes for seniors fail the basic fairness test when they consider only income and not net worth. Many seniors are income poor but have substantial even obscene amounts of property, stocks, bonds, etc. Allowing these seniors to skip out on tax liability unfairly shifts the tax burden to younger taxpayers who do not (yet) have the net worth but do have mortgages, kids to feed and clothe, etc. but only moderate income to accomplish these goals. The fact that we do not have a federal tax form that can be submitted to demonstrate net worth of a taxpayer does not eliminate the basic unfairness of ignoring net worth in these kind of calculations.
  • 01-18-2007 8:52 PM In reply to

    basic concept is unfair

    Requiring younger taxpayers to subsidize seniors in homes that they can no longer afford hurts society as whole in a number of ways. The senior who can not afford to pay taxes probably can also not afford to maintain his/her house damaging society's overall housing stock. The younger taxpayer, who might like to buy a larger house for his/her growing family finds that the houses he/she might like to buy are occupied by seniors that the younger taxpayer is forced by these laws to subsidize staying in the house the senior can no longer afford. If the seniors are not paying their "fair" share of taxes, it is younger taxpayers who need to pay higher taxes to cover the difference (or at least, I have no seen legislators taking a pay cut to give out this benefit.) While I can understand someone wanting to remain in the large house in which he/she raised his/her family, requiring the rest of society to subsidize this desire is unfair and counterproductive.
  • 01-18-2007 9:39 PM In reply to

    I support this bill

    I must ask those who oppose this bill: what would you do for those citizens who are retired and on limited income who do not yet qualify for Medicare and must pay out of pocket for medical insurance? HMO premiums for a couple in those circumstances are now reaching/exceed $10,000 per year... that $10k doesn't even cover the co-pay for an office visit, prescription drugs, or a visit to the dentist...
  • 01-21-2007 6:21 PM In reply to

    Good Point!!

    Tax exemptions are not the way to go. If the community feels that the elderly or some other group needs additional support then give them a stipend and let them decide how to spend the money.
  • 01-21-2007 6:26 PM In reply to

    I disagree.

    How would you help the senior citizen that rents? Citizens must take responsibility and plan for their individual short and long term needs.
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