Letter: In response to errors and faulty reasoning

Posted 8/10/17

To the editor:

I am grateful for neighbors with whom one can engage in a thoughtful, reflective conversation. With that thought in mind, I wanted to share these comments.

In earlier letters I …

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Letter: In response to errors and faulty reasoning

Posted

To the editor:

I am grateful for neighbors with whom one can engage in a thoughtful, reflective conversation. With that thought in mind, I wanted to share these comments.

In earlier letters I described my ideas about property tax relief for people who can't afford the increases caused by the middle school. That concern was voiced loudly and repeatedly during the discussions about the school, and I felt it should be considered. Responses to my ideas have included a few errors of fact and some faulty reasoning that I will correct in the letter I am sending today.

The most helpful advice I got was that I should learn more about the current affordable housing program in Barrington. (This suggestion seemed to be a response to my statement that "I'm not worried that people from other towns are going to flood Barrington because of our property tax structure and somehow take advantage of us.") I spent a little time on the internet and was able to find information about two current developments that include affordable housing: Sweetbriar Apartments and Barrington Cove Apartments, and one development in process: Palmer Pointe. I learned that these are all rental properties. In other words the person with low income doesn't buy the property. It turns out that renters don't actually pay property taxes, so I'm not clear why my neighbor from Florida thought his advice was relevant to the discussion. I hope that, if I'm missing something, he will help me out.

There was also some reaction to my question "How is a person with a low income supposed to qualify for a mortgage of the size one needs to buy a house in Barrington?" I figured that a person with low income would have trouble saving up for a down payment, and showing the ability to pay the monthly payment. Apparently the rationale behind my question wasn't as obvious as I thought, so perhaps I should provide some data. According to housingworksri.org, the median home price in Barrington is $422,000 and they assume the down payment would be around $15,000. A mortgage of over $400,000 would be needed and the monthly payment would be about $3,000. They say an annual income of $119,000 would be needed to afford this house. That's pretty far beyond low income. I found that "low income" is defined as 80% of an area's median income. In Barrington, I found the low income figure is $57,700 for a family of four. Granted, the median home price is the middle of all prices with half falling below. However, the least expensive listing for a home that I could find today was $225,000 for a home listed as needing extensive rehab. Therefore, I still don't think we're going to be troubled by people with low incomes moving to Barrington and taking advantage of us by paying a lowered tax rate.

By the way, I never asserted that tax relief cannot be based on age. I'm surprised that people who themselves submit letters to the editor don't realize that the writer doesn't select the title that runs with the letter. Those were the editor's words, not mine. Yes, I realize that tax relief can be based on age. My point is that I feel that would be an unfair method and that it should instead be based on need.

Some neighbors seemed flustered by my suggestion that people seeking a lower tax rate could demonstrate their eligibility by sharing their tax returns. This happens to be what people do to qualify for low income housing programs. Perhaps the sensitivity has to do with the current president's reluctance to share his tax returns---I don't know. But among all the other helpful suggestions there were no alternative ideas regarding how else eligibility might be demonstrated. I hope we'll hear more about that soon.

Also, to correct my neighbor from Florida, it's not true that any opinion contrary to my own offends me. There are many opinions that I don't share, but which don't offend me. The ones that offend me are the selfish ones that are hurtful to our society. Specifically, I wrote that the idea that after a certain number of years a person should no longer be expected to pay taxes offends me. And it does. Taxes are the dues we pay to live in a society. We pay our taxes so that we can undertake those initiatives we together decide are in our common best interest. It is important that we have police and fire departments, sewers and clean water and schools to educate young people. By working together, we each derive far more benefit from our taxes than what they cost us. (By the way, I think someone wrote that property taxes from people who don't have children in school subsidize those who do. That notion is so selfish, short-sighted and stupid that it offends me, too. In fact, it just made everyone who read it a little dumber.)

As always, I am interested in a sharing of ideas, solutions and proposals so that we can all look at them together and think about other perspectives than our own. After all, that's what started this little discussion among neighbors — I listened to people who disagreed with me at the meetings about the middle school and gave consideration to what they said.

Sincerely,

Tim Mize

Barrington

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