WPT Excerpt:Get rid of the middle-man.
HOPE Would Not Provide Relief To All Residential Property Taxpayers
HOPE would provide relief to only two-thirds of Wisconsin’s residential property taxpayers – those who own their homes. But, it would deny relief to almost one-third of the state’s residential property taxpayers; 633,439 working families and individuals who do not own but rent their residences and pay the property taxes on those residences to their landlords.
I can't think of a more backward reason to be against the HOPE property tax relief proposal than this one pushed by the Wisconsin Property Taxpayers organization. For all its practical purpose, HOPE is not intended to be a renter or landlord kickback program. Besides, the State of Wisconsin already offers tax relief to low-income renters through the state's Homestead Exemption Program.
In short, the main feature of the HOPE proposal would amend the Uniformity Clause of the Wisconsin State Constitution to permanently exempt the first $60,000 of owner-occupied residential property value from school property taxes. Next to a low fixed interest rate, HOPE offers the best incentive for Wisconsin renters to consider buying their own home. With HOPE, it might be cheaper than renting.
In fact, if HOPE becomes law, the first order of business by the state should include massive and repeated mailings to renters reminding them of the potential savings of owning their own home. We need to spur people into buying the American Dream again without sticking them with a "gotcha" ARM loan or ballooning property taxes caused by artificially inflated home values.
There is no time to waste.
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