Taxed Into Perpetuity

The wind finally went down this afternoon, but that twenty-seven degree temperature reading this morning, was an unwelcome sight, and coupled with the wind, it definitely felt like a February morning. For some reason, that cold was radiating into my office this morning, and in spite of my thermostat being set at a comfortable temp, it felt a good seven to ten degrees colder.

It was another day where I was randomly fielding phone calls from people regarding their recent assessed value notices. The ones I felt the most sorry for, were those who'd been hit with over $100K increases. I can only imagine what's going thru the minds of all those many elderly and struggling young families who're not part of our thoughtless meritocracy, and believe me, I've seen some of their salaries posted, as well as the per hour billings they're sending out, while the remainder have to live with their annual two or three percent wage and retirement increases.

I've come to the conclusion that many of them never had to struggle financially a day in their lives, and likely because their mid-century modern parents made sure they were never in need. You'll likely not see any of them with calloused hands or overly-tanned necklines from working outdoors in the sun, which is why I'm sorry to say, our middle class is on its way out, and what we'll be left with, will be those select minorities who've financially insulated themselves with their savvy investments, overly-generous retirement accounts, and bloated salaries, while all the rest, being left to live from hand to mouth until they've given up their ghosts. Please tell me I'm not being realistic.

A person of great intelligence mentioned today, that we have our City and State Government to blame for what's happening. Of course I'm still convinced we have a politically lop-sided State Legislature which is now capable of pushing thru Bills which are not in the best interest of all, but more likely for the benefit of a select few. Just today a man who seems to go down more rabbit holes than I do, insisted it's common knowledge within various circles, the fact that our City's Government is at the top of the list of being the most poorly managed. I dared not ask where he got that information, and only because I'm currently not in the mood for any more bad news. If that be true, I dare say there needs to be some serious shaming going on.

Another caller who's in the know, informed me that the reason there's little or no spec homes being built in our City, is because they're all going to Clear Lake, and only because their City is more builder-friendly. I personally know one builder who told me to my face, they'll never build another spec house in this City again. With that said, I'd really like to know who or what's creating those un-necessary hurdles. I do know we have several zealots in City Hall, but you'd think by now, they've been given a talking to, but it doesn't sound like it. Oh, that's right. We live in the world where narcissists are in vogue. My gosh, why do I keep forgetting?

As expected, my early afternoon closing went very well, along with being happy to see the buyers beaming with enthusiasm over the purchase of their first home. I did mention how long it had been in the seller's family, which is always a very good sign, because I've always believed that if a given seller has lived so many decades in a home, then its location and floor plan, worked very well for them over the years. Truth be told, I can walk thru a home and almost immediately tell if I could live there a long while, or a very short term. Personally, I'm very much a fan of those step-saving circle floor plans.

I'm sure you're all getting tired of me speaking about these assessed values and property taxes, but after comparing Clear Lake's tax rates to Mason City's, I did some research, and came up with some startling facts. First of all, you do know our millage rate or levy is at the highest allowed by our State, and with that said, I'm now giving you the scoop regarding the end result of my comparisons. Ok. Clear Lake's levy is now at $28.68 which is the amount you'd plug into your calculator and then multiply it by the assessed value after the roll-back is applied, which would then give you what your future taxes will be. Well, Mason City's levy is now at $38.01, which is just shy of $10.00 more per thousand than Clear Lake's. It now appears as if we're getting taxed into perpetuity.

You may not think that's anything to worry about, but if your assessed value after the roll-back is applied, is still well over say $150K, that's an increase which is not to be easily dismissed. A simplistic example would be a homes assessed value after roll-back being the amount of $200K, then that homeowner would be paying close to two thousand dollars a year more in taxes than in Clear Lake. I don't know about you, but two grand is a sizable amount of money that's going to waste.

I'm over to Clear Lake enough to know their City's done some really good things for their residents, along with keeping their streets pot-hole free, having a good police force, a good fire department, and a City Administrator who appears to me as being a visionary. Look at how fast that hotel got built next to the Interstate, and the build-out of that strip continues. In spite of their Historic Downtown being much smaller than ours, it's still far more charming. Yes, they have the tourists who're flocking there every season, but there's still lively things going on, long after they've left. Now tell me, why are they not financially struggling as much as Mason City seems to be? All I can say, is there's something chronically wrong in City Hall, and as I've said before, my belief it all started around 20 years ago. I'm siding with many when saying it's time to get whatever's wrong, fixed before it's too late. Our Department of Economic Development is going to be another subject which I'll be soon talking about.

Tonight's One-liner is: The function of real wisdom, is the ability to freely and easily discriminate between good and evil.

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