Editorials & Other Articles

My sister moved to rural New Jersey several decades ago. She and her husband bought a small, modest house for $175,000 and got by. Then came the Cheneybush real estate bubble, and their property tax shot through the roof when the assessed value of their house tripled while their income remained static.

Then came the $10,000 deduction cap, and they were forced to dip into savings just to stay afloat after paying the new huge property tax. They are over 60 and work in entertainment, which is sporadic income at their age.

They get by, but also in part because I shared my windfall part of our inheritance with my two siblings that later rose to be worth more (six figures!) than it was at the time it was divided up. The parts that they kept turned out not to contain anything that rose in value like that. But the tripling of the assessed value of their house meant no additional riches for them, no jump in their income, just an immense increase in their property tax. The deduction cap really put the screws to them. They are not deserving of the “tax the rich” scorn being globally applied in some quarters. Despite what the New Jersey tax assessors may declare, they are not rich, just taxed.