No property taxes
Letters to the Editor I am writing because I woke up this morning with an orange flyer on my tree stating that my property would be up for sheriff’s sale for minimal price, due to 2008 delinquent taxes.
I was humiliated and sick to my stomach, but I knew I paid my taxes. After getting my receipts I called and found out that it was from 2005 when we no longer had a tax collector. I sent a check that year for the taxes, but they wouldn’t accept it because of certain issues that were going on.
At one point a couple years later, I thought I had been sent a notice of taxes due and thinking it was that tax, I remember sending it out. This year we received a notice of delinquent taxes for 2005 and I had called, but there was no record of me paying and I couldn’t find a receipt.
They informed me that I had time to check it out, but unlike other taxes where you have almost a whole year to pay, this one you had to pay in a couple months. We went up in time so we wouldn’t have a sheriff’s sale.
When I called, they told me it was a mistake, that the ones posting the flyers were a different entity and they didn’t get the memo in time. I am sorry, but shouldn’t that have been sent to them when we took care of the situation.
That was so embarrassing. I got to thinking about all the others, the ones that have a house that is supposed to be theirs but really belongs to the state. Even if you have paid it off, they can sell it right [from] underneath you. There are other states that don’t have property taxes.
I know our governors and representatives through the years have sent our state into the red. There’s been too much corruption and too many deals along the way. Let’s vote for someone who really will get rid of property taxes so we have the right to own our homes.
Marjorie Steiner
Newell
Column deceiving
The recent “Decision Time” op-ed column clearly deceived its readers when it stated that the “middle- and lower-income taxpayers would keep their lower rates.”
For 2010, while it is true that the overall tax rate remains unchanged, it excludes several key tax law changes that adversely impact the lower and middle class. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom supplies. The deduction of up to $4000 in tuition and fees expires. The provision allowing the first $2,400 in unemployment to be non-taxable expires. Adding up to $1,000 to the standard deduction for property taxes disappears. Exemption levels for the alternative minimum tax drop.
Let’s look at 2011 as well. The tax level rates go up across the board in 2011, including the elimination of the 10 percent tax bracket altogether. Capital gains taxes go up from zero to 10 percent on those in the lowest tax bracket. The child tax credit, generally most impactful to lower- and middle-income families, is slashed in half.
Next time the Herald-Standard elects to run an op-ed column they should consider one that isn’t blatantly misleading.
Jonathan Behlke
Uniontown