First, let's break term limit laws and then raise property taxes…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 11:49 AM Permalink

…sounds like a good idea to a rogue billionaire Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and typical Republican thinker. After all the populace of New York is only there to do his bidding, so if he wants to do an end around the people, who have twice voted for term limits, and go through the clearly illegal procedure of having the City Council okay a third term in office for him, and then wants to immediately raise property taxes to help finance his Empire, isn't he just being a typical Compassionate Conservative?

As I understand property taxes (and I admit to never having owned real estate. I fact the only things I ever owned worth more than $13k was a land rocket called a Yamaha V-Max and a 1600cc full dress Kawasaki, both motorcycles), the amount of taxes a person pays is based upon a percentage of the value of the property, mostly homes.

I would suggest that New Yorkers immediately commence doing what many California homeowners have done: have the home reappraised to reflect its new, much lower value, and then go to whatever entity handles property taxes and demand that their taxes be adjusted based upon this new lower value. Then tell Bloomberg to stuff it where the sun don't shine, contact the ACLU and commence a very expensive lawsuit (for which Bloomberg will have to enlist very expensive lawyers to defend an indefensible act of illegally overriding the vote of the people).

From an article in the NYT:

Tensions between City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and aides to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg are erupting just a week after Ms. Quinn shepherded the mayor’s divisive legislation to loosen the city’s term limits law through the Council.

Feelings are raw between the two sides largely because Ms. Quinn took heavy political shrapnel for the mayor during the term limits battle as she rounded up support for what became an unusually difficult vote.[…]

In closed-door meetings over the last few days that occasionally escalated into shouting, Ms. Quinn has told the mayor’s aides to back off a plan that would change how hundreds of programs for the elderly are financed, a proposal that has infuriated several council members.

According to people briefed on the conversations, she has warned that the mayor’s plan to push for a property tax increase as early as next week could encounter resistance, especially since council members are still reeling from the term limits vote.

The tensions reveal the degree to which the bruising term limits battle, initiated by the mayor so that he can run for a third term, altered the political landscape, with Ms. Quinn and her colleagues feeling empowered to challenge the Bloomberg administration as never before.[…]

In discussions with senior administration officials, Ms. Quinn pointedly described a new political reality following the difficult term limits fight, which drew unusual attention and almost daily criticism of the Council. Members are reluctant to quickly tackle another contentious issue, council members and administration officials said.

Next week, the mayor is expected to rescind, six months early, a 7 percent property tax cut and lay out a 5 percent annual cut in spending for city agencies, according to city officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans are not yet public.

Both measures require the support of council members, and Ms. Quinn has already embraced Mr. Bloomberg’s call for swift action on the budget.

I was raised in 1950's Arkansas, where any politician bold enough to try this nonsense would quickly find themselves tarred-and-feathered and literally run out of town on a rail.

But if you take into account that the average home in America has lost about 25-30% of its former value if Bloomberg rescinds a 7% property tax cut, the average homeowner could easily save money by having the home reappraised and paying taxes on the reduced worth of the home (or any other real estate that has lost value), certain to be a much greater cost reduction than the 7% increase.

To me this would demonstrate two things: one, the citizens of New York City are not sheep to be led around by the nose by, two, a wanna-be permanent dictatorial mayor arrogating powers to himself that have no foundation in law or commonsense. And if the people there get to vote for city council members I would encourage those citizens to vote those bastids out of office and drive them into the wilderness until they see the truth of their pernicious ways.

I guess my real point is that it s way past time for even the average citizen to start fighting against injustices such these and take back our country and our rights as citizens. Especially when the steps needing to be taken can be undertaken at small expense, with larger savings, and leave the message permanently engraved in the minds of arrogant politicians that their perfidy will no longer be tolerated.

We must take back our country. It is our duty as citizens

Labels: bloomberg, blowback, class warfare, Conservatives, conspiracy, corruption, disinformation, human rights, hypocrisy