The Big Issue Ignored----PROPERTY TAXES RAPING US | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Tom Campbell wrote an excellent article concerning why he predicts a low turnout in the upcoming Primary Election, May 6. He seems to think the economy and jobs is what might rouse people to the polls. That is something no one in government has really addressed since it all crashed and burned under the Bush Administration. We bitch and moan, but it is beyond our control. It is a world wide problem and not just in the US so what should the real issue be?

    PROPERTY TAXES NEED REDUCTION

    If every citizen in Beaufort County were given a 30% reduction in Property Tax, would you support a candidate who had a plan to reduce them? If it were extended across the State of NC, would you then vote. I WOULD!!!!

    I have been researching this for some time now. I am barely able to hold on to our last home due to Property Taxes. It sits on a 50' wide piece of dirt and it touches the Pamlico River. If I could sell it for what the appraisal says it's worth, I would be most successful---BUT that won't happen. Everything is now selling for around 70% of appraised value. That was true in Nash County where I lived before coming here as the Recession hit.

    Our house there was on 4 acres of land / it was attached to a clean and clear pond / it was 3 story and brick with many fancy extras like super insulation and high-efficiency HVAC. It was even covered in siding on the few parts that might need painting. We were set to be old, low maintenance, low cost---on everything but Property Tax. They valued my property at $265,000. It sold for $190,000. It was resold --- and that time brought $121,000! What a difference between appraised value and selling price.

    Did you know that in a Capitalist Economy NOTHING is worth a penny more than someone will pay you for it?

    So what candidate will make the abuse of the taxed citizens by 30% THE ISSUE WHICH BRINGS VOTERS OUT????

    Some have said, "You just have to pay taxes." YES, BUT they should be based on reality. "It is the LAW," they say. YES BUT the Property Tax Statute demands re-evaluation every 8 years (that was 4 years ago) and it SAYS NOTHING that you cannot do it in 4 years if it is an UNFAIR EVALUATION = IT SURE IS!!!!!!!

    BUT there is a high cost of around $1,000,000 up for it to be done in Beaufort County. Does anyone really think a single citizen here and across NC would get upset to have next year's bill reduced by 30%???? Cost of an unfair valuation was already paid 4 years ago! Only those who receive the benefits of pay and other tax assets to spend---County Commissioners / Raleigh Legislators---would find themselves in the same boat as the voters who are all living on less since the crash of 2003!

    My small business runs on much less than it did 11 years ago. I have to manage on less --- and I do. So what makes government exempt from the Recession (Depression?) which has crushed all of us???? The US could get out of expensive wars profiting people like Dick Cheney and the Koch Brothers. The welfare system could be turned to a "Workfare System" where people collecting a government check do 40 hours a week in public works before they get a voucher to exchange for the WIC card or other benefits. I am tired of seeing Prisoners beside the road and tractors of a contractor, when enough people on WORKFARE could accomplish the same thing. I bet a doubling of the highway work crew on Workfare would be appreciated to repair damaged roads from the fierce winter! Just hands on shovels and rakes is needed --- at no additional cost or retirement benefits.

    Listen, I swung a swing blade saving money for college. I worked as a Trim Carpenter to get through Emory University. My graduate degree in Theology had jobs attached = Nurse's Aide at Dorothea Dix / Chaplain to the Wake County Juvenile Detention Center and Coordinator of Ministers Day in Court for Wake County. There is NO SHAME in physical work to buy food and pay the housing bill for me and my wife!!!

    Let's get on the real issue---TAXATION OF PROPERTY which must be reduced for fairness.

    Would you get out on May 6 if this could be changed????

    I know how to do it, but I don't have the money to run, nor the local connections to get backed. I'm just thinking and suffering alongside the rest of NC citizens paying 30% too much in taxes on property.