Over dinner friends tell me they are selling the house they built on a northern Wisconsin lake. Years ago they moved from Madison to land owned within their family since the 1960s and we tore down the old summer cottage so they could construct their dream home. The problem is that affluent individuals are increasingly buying up lake frontage in the north woods, which is driving up property values and property taxes. My friends still love their home but they are being taxed out of ownership by the most unjustifiable tax in Wisconsin.
I don’t have a problem with the idea I owe a financial obligation to the governance of society. I value the sewer system and many other public services contributing to the unprecedented breadth of the quality of life in America. I do have a problem with the idea that by ownership of private property, I assume an unlimited and unsatisfiable financial obligation to government. The property tax is in essence a debt defined and imposed by society that society will never release. A permanent obligation is characteristic of subjects under a government and not of citizens within their own limited rule of law.
A good case can be made that the most just form of taxation is based upon the free decisions of individuals. Sales taxes or consumption taxes are those levied only when individuals voluntarily exchange money for goods and services. Fairness and justice derive when the taxation is a reasonable price for the pursuit of happiness.
Americans for Fair Tax: The FairTax is levied only once, at the point of purchase on new goods and services. The simplicity of the FairTax frees Americans from our current overwhelming tax code and unshackles the U.S. economy.I fully support any Wisconsin initiative transforming the property tax into a modified sales tax. Real Estate transactions would include a fixed dollar tax obligation, perhaps with provisions to pay the balance over time. Wisconsin citizens should have a right to own their homes with protection from government tax seizure. Without legislative protections we may see even more morally reprehensible programs where government actively exploits home equity from the elderly.
My friends tell me that property tax reform will never happen. I disagree. Home ownership is the American Dream and we can change the law to make the right to own your home more important than the government’s right to raise tax money from it.Municipal Reverse Mortgage: What is the City's program? The City's program is a modified reverse mortgage because the City makes the program available only to pay all or a portion of a homeowner's property taxes. No monthly payments for living expenses are allowed.
How are my taxes paid? At the time of closing on your loan, you will be required to sign a lien document. A lien on your property will then be recorded with the Dane County Register of Deeds. Upon filing of the lien, the Comptroller's Office will draw a check payable to both the property owner and the City of Madison. You will then be responsible for paying the taxes in the City Treasurer's Office.
