Post by Kordax on Jul 10, 2007 9:11:10 GMT -5
According to both local mayors, Chattanooga & Hamilton Co's population is growing based on housing starts, but according to the census bureau, the overall county population is stagnant or even shrinking within the city boundaries.
The move to increase property taxes to keep up with basic needs indicates that both mayors' positions are wrong & that our lack of population growth has once again negatively impacted those of us who still choose to keep our residences within Hamilton Co/City of Chattanooga's boundaries. If we were genuinely growing, the natural increase in property taxes would fund everything the pols are claiming we need to fund.
And whose fault is it that we're not growing? What's the main reason people move to a non-resort area? People move for better jobs & despite the fact that both mayors & both governmental bodies have been spending millions of taxpayers' dollars on faddish economic development projects, government has little more than a pile or worthless cancelled taxpayer checks to show for all their spending -- we have no magnet employer(s) & no magnet economic engine drawing significant numbers of new $75K+ family income earners to the region -- those are the people who build upscale housing in droves that in turn creates an expanding property tax base which in turn keeps tax rates lower for existing residents.
By raising taxes again, the region will lose more residents & the cycle will continue & continue & continue....
The move to increase property taxes to keep up with basic needs indicates that both mayors' positions are wrong & that our lack of population growth has once again negatively impacted those of us who still choose to keep our residences within Hamilton Co/City of Chattanooga's boundaries. If we were genuinely growing, the natural increase in property taxes would fund everything the pols are claiming we need to fund.
And whose fault is it that we're not growing? What's the main reason people move to a non-resort area? People move for better jobs & despite the fact that both mayors & both governmental bodies have been spending millions of taxpayers' dollars on faddish economic development projects, government has little more than a pile or worthless cancelled taxpayer checks to show for all their spending -- we have no magnet employer(s) & no magnet economic engine drawing significant numbers of new $75K+ family income earners to the region -- those are the people who build upscale housing in droves that in turn creates an expanding property tax base which in turn keeps tax rates lower for existing residents.
By raising taxes again, the region will lose more residents & the cycle will continue & continue & continue....
