In 1982 Mr. Arturo Lopez purchased a 2 flat in the working class Chicago neighborhood of Bucktown. Mr. Lopez was careful and purchased a property and obtained a mortgage that were within his economic means. He dutifully made the $600 monthly mortgage payments.
Every few years the bank would raise his mortgage on the grounds that the property value was rising, irregardless of Mr. Lopez's financial situation. By 2008 the bank had raised Mr. Lopez's mortgage by 400% to $2,400 per month. Since his income had only risen by 100%, the financial weight of the mortgage had become crushing.
After investigating his financial statements Mr. Lopez learned that he had paid off the loan in 2007, yet the bank kept on charging him. In 2009 he retired and the combination of his lower income and higher monthly payments made it impossible for him to pay the mortgage. Faster than he could say "foreclosure" the bank had seized his property. Mr. Lopez was justifiably enraged, because it was as if the bank had become a feudal lord and he had become a serf who was merely renting the property.
Now substitute "government" for "bank" and "property taxes" for "mortgage" and you'll understand the basically feudal relationship that had evolved between the government and homeowners via property taxes.
Most "progressives" decry the financial ruin of homeowners caused by them voluntarily taking on mortgages that are above their means.
Yet, so few "progressives" seem concerned about the financial burden and ruin caused by the government doubling and tripling property taxes, regardless of the income of home owners. And so few mention the part that rising taxes play in the growth of foreclosures.
In the vast majority of cases banks will make the effort to ensure that loans are within the means of their constituency. Yet, when the government dramatically raises property taxes they do not take the home owner's income into account. Needless to say this has contributed to the exodus of working class and middle class families from many parts of Chicago and Cook County. Yet, not once have I heard the "progressives" who decry gentrification mention property taxes.
Are these "progressives" only able to envision scenarios in which "greedy corporations" are the problem and state intervention is the solution?
I'll leave you with some thoughts that I would like you to ponder:
To levy direct (income) and indirect (sales) is a necessary function of the state. But to tax a home every year under the threat of having the state seize it from you implies that you are the tenant and the state is the feudal owner of the land...which we should find far more troubling that "predatory lending."
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