Monday, February 25, 2008

Mike Barrett On Homestead Exemption

Today's Virginian-Pravda has a letter by Mike Barrett on the Virginia Beach Taxpayers Alliance (VBTA) and a push for a homestead exemption http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/break-wealthy I've sparred with Mike over issues before, and find much of his political agenda absurd. However, he hits on a couple kernels of truth here:

1. Why is it that the VBTA's only housing concern is over landed homeowners? It's the VBTA that was alone in opposing the City's Workforce Housing Program, stating that government had neither a legal nor moral obligation to provide housing for any group. However, that same VBTA thinks a select group should get a tax break on their housing. (Am I the first person to call them on that contradiction?)

2. I'm an apartment dweller. Given that the hometead exemption wouldn't apply to commercial property, my neighbors and I wouldn't get a break. In the 5 years I've been in my building, rent has gone up annually, as Property Tax increases are being passed onto us.

So the VBTA wants a tax break for wealthy landowners...which would be paid for by us po' folk?Typical of the VBTA's self-serving agenda. If you listen to the VBTA, upper middle-class homeowners should be the focus of the government services model.

If you have a household income under $70,000, remember in November that the VBTA and it's candidates (Moss, Hedrick, et al) don't give a damn about you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Homestead Exemption loss at the state level shows that the VBTA is even less relevant as a political force than before.

Their lobbying on behalf of "regular homeowners" probably helped kill the whole thing.

We already knew they couldn't get anyone elected to city council, but now we know they won't be able to get anyone elected to the state house or senate!

Avenging Archangel said...

Anon 9:11,

Remember that the Deaniacs ran a write-in slate for the General Assembly last November that was (predictably enough) endorsed by Virginia News Source. City Council has longed looked up them as the enemy; now the delegation does, too.

In addition, no credible group out there wants to go into political coalition with them.

Isolated and impotent.