Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: "879" <879@nospam.com> Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: I Feel Old Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2016 06:06:42 +1100 Lines: 50 Message-ID: References: <9dcde262-7129-4a8f-b034-105b67d61cf5@googlegroups.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: individual.net vbpHrnKq/mdujq0Xl6+D2wPKwUpYqiMOXvJQcJXNVYyYWVJVc= Cancel-Lock: sha1:0Tb7G1ClelXsKsKm7mD50RMd70E= In-Reply-To: X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Importance: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Windows Live Mail 14.0.8117.416 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V14.0.8117.416 Xref: csiph.com alt.folklore.computers:156320 "Morten Reistad" wrote in message news:ho37mc-kr.ln1@sambook.reistad.name... > In article , 879 <879@nospam.com> wrote: >> >> >>"Stephen Sprunk" wrote in message >>news:n6orc3$n8j$1@dont-email.me... >>> On 08-Jan-16 08:53, Morten Reistad wrote: >>>> Peter Flass wrote: >>>>> NJ is a bit high, but I'm paying around 2% of market value, >>>>> including county/town, miscellaneous assessments (library etc.), >>>>> and school, with some off for being an old fart. ... >>>> >>>> Here we pay zero to 0.4% depending on municipality. Plus 0.7% of >>>> assets, to be lowered "soon". The assets are valued pretty low for >>>> any non-liquid ones; housing at 25-30%. >>> >>> Generally, only real property is taxed here. Some states do it at FMV >>> (or some fraction thereof, with higher rates to compensate), while >>> others at the last purchase price. Some states also tax vehicles, but >>> rarely other personal assets. >>> >>> But, yes, our property taxes overall are much higher than yours; one of >>> the reasons is that property tax is quite difficult to evade or avoid >>> and generally more stable, so it's a more reliable funding mechanism for >>> the govt than taxes on wages or consumption. >>> >>> It's also a political issue dating back to the late 1800s/early 1900s, >>> when American economists noticed the idle nobility in Europe owned all >>> the land and funded their extravagant lifestyles by extracting rent from >>> hard-working peasants, which evolved into home ownership being the >>> "American Dream". Many European economists had noticed this too, of >>> course, but they were never able to do anything about it. >> >>They did actually, home ownership rates increased >>dramatically in quite a few european countries. > > There are large variations between countries, though. In Norway home > ownership > is the general norm, but around 30% is through building coops. In Sweden > they have > these "folkhem" areas where people rent, at subsidised and very regulated > rates; but still quite profitable for the owner. These contribute nearly > half > the dwellings in Sweden. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_home_ownership_rate