Benefits of Elimination of the Property Tax

What benefits would result if the property tax were completely eliminated, with the revenue collected from another source?


• Fairness, equity and tax justice would be restored as this tax is eliminated, a tax which subsidizes those at the top on the backs of those at the bottom.

• The unjust system of home owners being imputed with an ability to pay higher (property) taxes simply because they have wealthy neighbors would be done away with.

• There would be a halt of the mass exodus from N.J. because remaining in one’s home would no longer be unaffordable.

• N.J. would become a state where one’s home was no longer in jeopardy of confiscation due to inability to pay property taxes.

• N.J. would become a desirable place to move to as an escape from high property taxes in other states.

• There would be a boost to the state economy due to a growing population due to the end of the exodus plus an increase in those desiring to live here.

• N.J. might recapture its soon to be lost Congressional seat due to its lack of population growth.

• Those who spend a lifetime paying off their home would have the security of knowing they will have a roof over their head until they die.

• Families would now be able to enjoy their latter years surrounded by family and friends of a lifetime instead of being forced to leave them due to the unaffordability of living here.

• Local officials would no longer be inclined to succumb to pressure from developers as the carrot of increased property tax revenue is dangled before them.

• The abuse of eminent domain by throwing people out of their homes would be greatly curtailed as local officials no longer need to choose between increasing property tax revenue through over-development and/or phony redevelopment schemes.

• Open space would be less threatened as local officials would no longer need to rely on over-development to increase property taxes.

• More retirees remaining in their towns of a lifetime would relieve pressure on ever increasing school enrollments because they would not be selling their homes to younger buyers with school aged children, thus reducing local education costs.

• There would be forced development of a fairer system for funding education based upon treating all students equally rather than favoring aggregately poorer communities over others.

• The mix of generations in neighborhoods would be more natural and balanced as retirees could now remain in their homes.

• The cost of owning a home would be reduced, increasing the possibility of lower income buyers qualifying for mortgage loans as property taxes are no longer factored in.

• There would be an increase in the home renovation economy as owners would be more inclined to make improvements since they no longer will be driven to move elsewhere due to ever-escalating property taxes. These expenditures are presently stifled because people do not want to spend thousands on renovations just to move on in a few years or because they need to save the money to pay future property taxes.

• Home improvements would be made without the corresponding “penalty” of increased property taxes due to an increased assessment, thus boosting the state’s economy.

• Those who lose their job, are unemployed for an extended period, who become disabled or who have a dramatic reduction in income due to a job change would not have to worry about property taxes consuming their limited resources for everyday living necessities.

• Those relying on Social Security and modest—if any other—retirement income would no longer have to choose between paying for medicines and food and utilities or their property taxes.

• There will be reduced state subsidization of medical costs for those barely surviving on limited incomes.

• Many will be able to afford healthcare insurance and/or long term care insurance as hundreds of dollars a month are freed up for such, thus relieving financial aid pressures on state assistance programs and health institutions.

• Once eliminated, property taxes will never again be able to haunt and plague us. They will do that if we retain them, only applying a band aid, and as is inevitable with every current plan to address them. Witness the governor’s "demand" to merely limit their annual increase to only four percent (greater than inflation for the past twenty years). This means they will double only every 18 years instead of every ten. We can also rest assured politicians will find ways around this to increase them anyway.

There are undoubtedly many more benefits to be had through the elimination of property taxes. Allowing them to remain will prevent any of the above benefits coming to pass.

Any negative results due to elimination of the property tax are hard to imagine. That is, other than the major bogus one which is repeatedly trotted out the minute real reform seems possible. It is a red herring, usually floated by those currently benefiting from the present system, those being subsidized at the expense of their neighbor. It is the demagogic claim that eliminating the property tax would mean other taxes would be raised. Of course other taxes would need to be raised to replace the lost revenue. That is not the same as increasing taxes overall.

The idea is to institute a more just way of funding government services. Only those who do not believe in tax fairness object to the shifting of tax burden away from those paying more than their fair share and who are least able to afford it unto those not paying their fair share.

To those who claim that we must first reduce government spending, we ask why? That is, why must it be first? Government waste and tax fairness are separate issues. The question the fairness of property taxes exists regardless of how high they are.

Wasteful spending, inefficiencies, pay to play corruption, etc. all need to be tackled, no matter which way revenue is collected. Property taxes have nothing to do with them other than they often end up paying for these excesses. Address the fairness and spending issues at the same time but separately.

It is time to come up with a new direction in the efforts to address property taxes. Just making them a little less painful is not a solution. If we do not make elimination of property taxes our primary goal then we will be revisiting this issue in a few short years, while none of the above benefits will ever be achieved.