Posts: 1,513
Threads: 18
Joined: Oct 2014
quote:
Originally posted by pbmaise
The arguement I hear is largerly one of safety.
Yes a very large structure that can fall, trap people, or burn down needs to be built by plans and inspected.
However, there is a place in this equation for those that desire to live life as people have done for eons.
The American house with a large lawn, trimmed bushes, two cars, a garage, and hot tub is not for everyone.
In Hawaii we have room for the simple home.
I intend to soon build a bamboo home here in the Philippines with a palm roof.
I agree and believe it's a basic human right to live in accordance with nature and not costing a bloody fortune which excludes many people from the right to own a home. Unfortunately our genetic pool is currently full of idiots who will abuse that right. Good luck, sounds like the American dream manifest in the Philippines.
Posts: 28
Threads: 1
Joined: Dec 2013
quote:
Originally posted by terracore
I'm not condoning what this person did but maybe the motivation was to hand it to the county and let them sort it out rather than continuing to subsidize his neighbor's property tax. If they need financial assistance there are avenues for that. Purposely withholding property tax by circumventing the procedures that assess it is called tax evasion.
I've never heard of anybody appealing their land-only property tax bill by showing up and saying in all fairness the county needs to levy additional taxes on them to account for the value of their unpermitted dwellings. There are two issues at play here, one is building codes and the other is taxes.
We'll never know if this person is upset because somebody is taking a dump on the ground rather than into a hole in the ground, or if its because their unpermitted neighbor is driving a Mercedes. Some people live the unpermitted nightmare, others are living the unpermitted dream.
There is a simple solution to this sort of conflict, and that's to stop taxing improvements entirely and shift all the "tax" onto land.
There are myriad other -- huge, civilization-changing -- benefits to land value taxation (LVT) as well, but that's Land Economics 102, which I offer only via email.
