Raise the Hammer

"Perhaps instead of basing taxes on the value of properties, the city should charge everybody the same tax, regardless of how much their house is worth."

.. and base it on what? The value of the largest mansion in the city? So that granny in her tiny bungalow is getting ripped off? Or do we base it on the value of granny's place, so that the rich in the biggest homes get a free ride? Or how about somewhere in the middle - say, the value of A Smith's home - so that you pay exactly what you owe, and granny only gets "kinda" ripped off and the fat cats only get "kinda" a free ride?

You are off your rocker.

"The truth is, both inner residents and suburban residents receive services, although the value of these is unknown. However, what we do know and what can be shown with REAL NUMBERS, is that inner city residents pay much less, more than 50% less in property taxes than new homeowners do. All you have to back up your arguments are guesstimates, not strong enough to be taken seriously. "

So let's straighten this all out for everyone.

It's OK for you to make up your own assumptions in your head about the "unknown" value of these services - allowing you to easily "determine" that downtown residents are getting way more than they pay for.

The rest of us, however, must back up every word with a number. We aren't allowed to point out the common sense notion of the much higher cost to service people who live in developments that occupy many more acres per person than their downtown counterparts? We have to prove numerically that collecting garbage on a 300 foot stretch containing 15 homes is cheaper than on a 300 foot stretch containing 5 homes. Because parked cars might be getting in the way. We forgot to account for that.

"Show me actual numbers that detail the cost breakdown of servicing each community, how much is paid in taxes, otherwise your whole argument that inner city residents are getting screwed over is based on nothing but your opinion."

Show me actual numbers that detail the cost breakdown of servicing each community, how much is paid in taxes, otherwise your whole argument that new suburban residents are getting screwed over is based on nothing but your opinion.