The American Nightmare: Do you really own your home?

I am not referring to broken water pipes and leaky roofs. I refer to what is commonly know as the American Dream. What is it? Owning one’s own home. Those without one pine over whether they will one day be able to achieve such. Those who begin the process often work two jobs or ungodly hours to afford a down payment and then embark on years of paying a mortgage. People strive, sweat and sacrifice over several decades just so they can own their home. Most everyone does this through borrowing. So, in the end, they often pay out fifty, one hundred, even two hundred percent more than the original price. It is a long, arduous and costly route hard working Americans travel, making the single largest purchase of their lives. Just to own their home. Just to live the American Dream.

Why do they bother? What is the reason people are willing to sacrifice so much? Is it materialism? Hardly. The investment value? A secondary reason, if at all. It is security in the present as well as in their old age. That is one major motive which causes people to take on such a daunting challenge.

Naive as it may sound, I wanted to own my home for the security it would give in my retirement years or through hard times. I figured I would always have a roof over my family's heads. Likewise, I foolishly thought that purchasing a home was like anything else one buys: after it is paid for it belongs to you. And as long as you maintain it, it will serve its purpose, and you own it to boot.

Foolish? Yes. For no one told me about the Property Tax. No one told me you don’t really own your home, you are renting it from your town. This is because property taxes are nothing more than rent. Fail to pay your taxes and you will be evicted. Evicted, regardless of whether you sweat and slaved all your life to own that home.

Worse, unlike any other tax which requires you to earn or spend something before you are obligated to pay it, property taxes are due merely because you “own” property. You might be unemployed. You might be disabled. You might be too old to work and on a very limited and virtually fixed income. The state does not care. Pay up, it says. Pay or else move out so we can sell your home to someone who can pay. This oppressive situation begins the minute you sign those papers to take “possession.” There is no other tax nor obligation we have that is like this.

Home ownership is a myth. It is not true. It is not real. We are all renters from the state. The only way to rectify this misconception is to eliminate the property tax. All the modification, tinkering, etc. to lessen its onerous nature will not change the facts. If we are subject to forfeiture of our homes for not paying a tax that has nothing to do with spending or earning an income then we do not own that property. But if there is no more property tax then we will have restored the right to private property. We will really own our home.

Only home owners (and renters who realize their rents include the “owner’s” property tax) can change this present injustice. It is up to them to write their senator and assemblymen that the jig is up and the property tax must be eliminated. Otherwise supposed benefits the American Dream of home ownership provides can only be believed through self-delusion, through believing a myth.

Response to Assm Panter

Save Our Homes and Our Future
Here is a reply I just made to Assm Panter on his blog. He was expressing hope that the Property Tax issue will be addressed in a meaningful way.

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I am sorry to report that there is little or no hope for genuine property tax reform until the actual problem is acknowledged and addressed. It is that the Property Tax is fundamentally unfair. As it does not take into account one's ability to pay, it automatically (without any special interest tax law snuck in to benefit the well connected) causes those at the bottom to pay a tax relative to income that is obsene.

Here is an example from a woman I have recently spoken to who called me in regard to my letters to the editor.

This is not made up. There is a 79 year old widow who lives in Middletown Twp. She has annual income of $21,000. Her Property Tax bill is $5500. That means she is paying over 25% of her meager income in property taxes.

The top Income Tax rate in NJ for those making $500,000 is only 9%. So one must ask, is this a fair system? Do you think you could live on what this widow has left after paying her taxes? Should she be forced to move from her home of 51 years simply because we have an unjust and oppressive tax system?

How many people making $500,000 also have a $125,000 property tax bill? And even if they did, they certainly might manage to scrape by on the remaining $375,000.

We need to change the system. Until politicians and tax reform groups stop focussing on spending as the problem, there will never be genuine property tax reform.

The writer who lives in Marlboro would probably like to have the peace of mind that comes with know that if they experienced a precipitous drop in their income, they would not be forced from their home because they could no longer afford their property taxes.

Do not mistake what I say. Yes, spending should be addressed. But that should happen regardless of how we collect taxes to fund government services.

One must also acknowledge the reality that there can never be enough "savings" found on the spending side to help people such as the widow mentioned above. Does anyone really believe that cutting her property taxes in half ever happen? And even if it did, can anyone say with a straight face that she should be paying any taxes?

Let's get to the real issue here. The Property Tax is an outdated, oppressive and unjust tax. We must pay for government services a different way than that.

Coming Soon

Save Our Homes and Our Future
I am presently setting up a website. Unfortunately, when one works a full time job it is hard to find the time to take care of routine home affairs as well as devote full time type of hours to this.