On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 1:45:44 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-08-14 13:27, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 10:55:54 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-08-14 09:56, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 12:05:04 PM UTC-4,
wrote: Snipped
The entire trouble in California is the excessive taxation.
The Federal government is nearly as bad.

Snipped
You want business growth in the US - stop preventing it by
excessive taxation. Here they have added an addition tax every
year for the last three years to "fix the roads" and still
haven't done anything more than patched them in the most
egregious places.

Got to pay for all that bicycling infrastructure planning and
building somehow. Bicyclist aren't going to pay it just
themselves. Thus others re forced to chi; in via taxes.


We pay over $4k/year just in property taxes. That is about 10
(ten!) times more than what we paid for a house of similar value in
Europe. And yes, I do expect something in return for that much
money. Such as bike paths.

That's it! Try triple that in Portland -- or more, if you have a nice
house. ...


Time you guys had a taxpayer revolt like the Californian Proposition 13.
I know a guy in New York who had a decent academic-level income yet his
family was essentially taxed out of their home. There are reasons why
New York, Orgeon and lots of other places are not on my list of
potential retirement places.


What the f*** are you complaining about? You think that for
four-measly-thousand you're going to get bike trails to your door.
You're crazy! Plus property taxes don't pay for transportation
infrastructure -- that is funded through transportation taxes,
usually the gas tax with general fund input.


http://www.frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/who-pays-roads

Quote "Most walking and bicycling takes place on local streets and roads
that are primarily paid for through property taxes and other general
local taxes".

Well, that's just wrong -- particularly for you. AFAIK, property taxes in California may pay a tiny part of certain transportation projects -- like mass transit, highway lighting or pot-hole filling. They're not being used to build bike paths. Look at your tax bill and see if there are any bonds for bicycle infrastructure. And read this: http://www.calbike.org/funding_sources After Prop 13, there are few property tax dollars for transportation projects. Maybe SMS can weigh in on this. But I do know you pay practically nothing for property tax. I probably paid that much 20 years ago for a dinger house in a sketchy part of town.

-- Jay Beattie.