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Dear Editor,
South Carolina has benefitted from the high resale values of homes in the state. Property taxes have increased across the board and cities, counties and the state, overall, have benefited handsomely. Because of the “reevaluation” that happens every five years, homeowners open their mail to see significant increases in their property taxes.
This is especially difficult for homeowners who are poor, living on modest Social Security or are struggling to make ends meet with inflation. Several states do not have property taxes. Florida governor Ron DeSantis has proposed eliminating property taxes to help homeowner’s cope with much higher insurance costs and storm damages.
What most people are not aware of are the thousands of homeowners who have to make decisions regarding their only asset when it comes to paying property taxes or their medical bills or general living expenses. For those who are working, paying property taxes is just a cost of living. But for those who struggle with mounting bills a tough decision has to be made, one which may force them to not pay their property taxes. Once done it is usually very difficult or impossible to catch up – and then their homes are often foreclosed on for non-payment of taxes. The house may be paid off, yet there is little they can do.
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South Carolina looked at doing away with property taxes many years ago. Once proposed, school districts complained this might cause a funding problem, so it was abandoned. Legislators need to revisit this idea and start with exemptions for those over 65 years of age, active military or who are disabled. I don’t have to go through the list of reasons why because we have all experienced the sizable increases we have had to deal with over the past five to six years. As retirees, we need a break. The government puts through cost-of-living increases for Social Security, then offsets the increase by increasing deductibles and changing benefits.
My cost of living has increased, and my quality of life has diminished by the same amount. Those who have not received an increase in their wages will be able to relate to the situation. In addition, the 2% tax on food should also be eliminated. If legislators are trying to figure out why the number of SNAP recipients is increasing, take a guess?
I’m sure there are some bloated programs that could be cut or reduced to offset the loss. Baby-Boomers are increasing by the thousands, every day, and many have little to fall back on.
Sincerely,
Joe Hodapp
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FROM THE EDITOR…
Thank you for sharing this, Joe. Property taxes across South Carolina are out of control – for everyone – but especially for retirees on fixed incomes. The mindless, unsustainable growth of government isn’t just pricing people out of homeownership, it is hitting those who labored to achieve the American dream at the very moment they should be able to enjoy everything they worked for.
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2 comments
Mr Hodapp, you are absolutely right! The property taxes in my county are outrageous. There is something inherently wrong with taking a person’s home because they do not have the ever-increasing amount of extortion money that it takes to keep your home for yourself. One of the biggest, and worst, items on my tax bill seems to be tied to school taxes. It is as though the schools and school boards have a blank check for anything their little hearts desire each year, and they desire quite a bit. Then you have councilmen who have an unquenchable thirst for more parks and recreation crap. I believe Mr Folks would agree that parks and recreation are not a core function and purpose of government, yet we always have councilmen pushing for more parks. Why can’t people be content with the ones we already have? I suspect a lot of these council persons make money from shady land deals for more unnecessary parks.
As a citizen, I used to enjoy listening to my local police on a scanner. It gave me an idea of what was going on in my neighborhood, my community, and my county. It gave me the means to avoid areas where trouble might be brewing, or perhaps a bad traffic situation causef by a wreck. Earlier this year, my Sheriff and Police Department decided to become the Secret Police and encrypt all of their radio traffic. Apparently they have adopted the “us vs them” attitude that so many police agencies have adopted and are adopting each day across our nation towards their citizens. Why? Motorola plays a never ending game every few years where they discontinue support for existing two-way radios and public safety (police, fire, EMS) have to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to stay on their network. This costs more money. There are alternatives to Motorola.
Cities, counties, and school districts, need to start living within their means. We are not an infinite source ATM for them, even though they treat us like one.
Govt extortion, plain and simple