Re: Distribution & Redistribution

From: William C Colley (chriscoll_at_panola.com)
Date: 11/16/04 

Date: 16 Nov 2004 14:12:42 -0800

Greetings All,

royls@telus.net wrote in message news:<419940b9.24378253@news.telus.net>...
> On 15 Nov 2004 09:43:06 -0800, chriscoll@panola.com (William C Colley)
> wrote:
>
> >Methinks
> >too many somehow confuse Georgism with Socialism, and based on my
> >limited understanding this is not accurate.
>
> It is more than inaccurate. It is in many cases a deliberate lie.
>

I do not doubt that there are individuals that lie about Georgism and
Socialism, even so much as to equate the two.

> >
> >Insomuch as a government
> >need exist and must collect taxes to support itself, then taxes on
> >land ownership seem, depending on how they are assessed and collected,
> >to be among the least contentious taxes to consider.
>
> No, they are highly contentious whenever landowners get wind of them.
> They are just the least objectionable taxes on grounds of freedom,
> justice, transparency, certainty, simplicity, and economic efficiency.
>
> >Were I to be
> >given the choice to be taxed based on my income, my expenditures, my
> >wealth, or the amount of land I owned, I would tend to favor the
> >latter even though I do own land and seek to acquire more.
>
> It is the best investment you can make, precisely _because_ landowning
> is so extravagantly subsidized.
>
> >However,
> >given the fact that there do exist individuals who may be land rich
> >but money poor, what provision would you make for delaying collection
> >of land taxes until transfer of title or deed, as opposed to
> >collection of taxes on a yearly basis?
>
> If they don't want to pay the taxes, they can relinquish the land.
> Simple.
>

Even though they had legally acquired title to the land and are
currently paying all local property taxes? I already pay property
taxes, that's a given for me. I'm thinking specifically of individuals
who, through whatever circumstances, find themselves with property
they have lived on for many years but somehow lack the cash to pay
property taxes. What matter if the government should wait for that
individual to live their natural lives so long as the land title is
taxed for whatever amount assessed at the eventual time of sale?

> >
> >I for one could not in good
> >conscious evict someone from land they legally owned for the sole
> >reason of their failure to pay property taxes,
>
> Could you in good conscience evict a tenant for the sole reason of
> their failure to pay rent?
>

It may depend on circumstances, I can imagine scenarios in which I
would voluntarilly take on responsibility to help pay for a tenants
rent, but I don't think a tenant is entitled to free rent. At least
not on private property. If the government wants to let people live
free on government land, well that's a different issue.

>
> I certainly could, and likewise a deadbeat landholder.
>

Imagine a scenario where an elderly person lives on land they own and
has enough cash to eat and survive, but no other assets than the
property they own and live on. Why can't the government simply wait
until such a person dies of old age than to demand payment of a
property tax which they cannot pay? So what if that piece of property
stays out of the market for a few years or decades, accumulating
wealth? Now if the property owner seeks to refinance or borrow against
the land, or anything which would legally transfer the value of the
land from their ownership, then that would be subject to taxation
since only by using the local government can such a title transfer be
legal.

>
> OTOH, I
> couldn't in good conscience arrest someone for using marijuana.
>

Nor I, unless of course their use was simultaneously occuring in a
situation where they were putting an unwilling other at risk. Like
driving on public roads and such.

>
> >but the government
> >which has a vested interest in collecting said taxes, for the supposed
> >purposes of mutual benifit as you state, can afford to wait until the
> >title or deed to the land is actually transferred to someone else.
> >Can't it?
>
> Of course, grace periods are normal in such cases. It is rare for
> property tax arrears to result in the owner's dispossession, even as
> long as _five_years_ after the last tax payment was received. But
> come on, there has to be a limit on such indulgences.
>

Well this concession goes far to assuage some concerns in that what
you are describing does sound like property taxes as I understand
them, and not some novel confiscatory tax to be imposed annually or
more frequently on whomever is unfortunate enough to have scraped up
enough money to buy a piece of property. And of course as long as it
is a local tax then individuals can at least move to places with tax
rates they are most comfortable with.
 
William C Colley

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