THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 3, 1996 TAG: 9605310009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 37 lines
Do I want Virginia Beach to raise the real-estate tax on my residence? The answer is an emphatic ``no.''
I am retired from what was my career occupation, and my wife and I now live on my retirement income plus income from my part-time job. I still earn too much to draw Social Security, and my net worth, exclusive of my residence, is too high to qualify for a senior-citizen discount on my tax. We have no children in school. Our house is nearly 60 years old and has been in the family for 46 of those years.
Some will say I've got it made and shouldn't complain about an increase in the real-estate tax. Nevertheless, I fear an increase. I already pay a tax on my residence of $13,028 per year. Do I receive any more services for that money than someone whose tax is, say $3,500 per year? No, I don't. Do I think it's fair that a tax could ultimately force me to sell my home? No, I don't. Do I have any other option? Yes. I could subdivide my property into three, perhaps four, building sites and sell two or three sites. But is that what this community needs, more bedrooms? No! More children to fill the classrooms? No! More people to drink the water? No!
I believe there should be a limit to the amount of real-estate tax charged on a single residence. I also believe there is a valid argument for differentiating between residential property and income-producing property when assigning tax rates.
I hope that Virginia Beach City Council will give some consideration to homeowners in situations similar to my own and offer some relief. And if my state and federal representatives are reading, in 1995 my total tax burden, i.e., income, self-employment, personal-property, real-estate and sales tax, was 61 percent of my adjusted gross income. It's too much already!
C. J. CARPENTER
Virginia Beach, May 8, 1996 by CNB