Property taxes on your primary residence need a massive reform.

Stop property tax and be able to retire comfortably in the home we earned.

Why should someone be penalized for wanting a nice home? I am 47 years old and have worked steadily since I was 16. I made 100 grand in a year for the first time when I was about 40, only making 30-50 grand most of my life. I have always dreamt of having a beautiful home where I can entertain friends and family, and 7 years ago, after years of saving, I bought my property and built a garage with a 900 sq foot loft that I planned to become my guest home. I lived in this small home for 7 years. Today I am nearing completion of a 2,542 sq foot 2 bed and 2 and a half bath home on 4 acres that I work on every day.  I worked on this house 7 days a week for two years 10-14 hours a day, because it was my passion and my dream. Last week I discovered I will be charged about $15,000 a year in property taxes to keep my dream home.

I have no kids and nearly $8,000 goes to my local schools. I believe our schools need the money, but what does the caliber of my home have to do with that contribution? I live in a small town in Illinois where most incomes are $40,000 or less annually, yet we are extorted a 2nd highest in the nation 2.4% property tax.

Raise sales tax, especially on alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana to help our schools and cities, even have a sales tax on the home, but there needs to be an end. I spent over 500,000 on my home, charge a 10% sales tax. I owe 50 grand to the city that should be payable in a loan of 10-20 years, and then I'm done. When my house is sold or inherited, they again pay the tax value. Point is there are more fair ways to generate tax revenue than a lifetime penalty for having a nice home.

At this rate, provided I live as long as I hope to, I will contribute nearly a half a million dollars to my school and another half a million to my city because I chose to build a nice home and improve my neighborhood. Meanwhile someone who chooses to live in a small home and not take care of it decreasing the value may have 3 kids and pay 30-50 grand.

Some states pay less than .5% tax whereas Illinois and New Jersy top the list and nearly 2.5% 

My proposal.

• Remove all annual property tax nationwide on primary residences.
• add maximum10% home sales tax to replace lost funding (broken up in a loan payable in 10 years)
• raise non-essentials sales tax to replace funding (i.e., 5% alcohol tax)
• max 1% property tax on secondary residence 
• max 2% on third or more.

option 2

1% max property tax with a $3000 max pay on primary residence, with $1200 max for persons over 65.

The government has a right to collect tax to protect our country, to build roads and schools, but the people of the US should have a voice to say what is fair and where those taxes come from. Paying and endless tax on your home (a necessity) and being penalized and being forced to pay for schools because of the amount of money you invest in your home is unfair. I can't imagine anyone who is for high property tax, so if the vast majority of Americans against it, it should be changed.

If enough Americans protest and petition and make our political leaders aware of how unjust the property tax is, and how unbalanced it is in our nation with some states paying 5 times the amount of others, I hope that the federal government or at least the states look to reform the tax laws.

This benefits all working classes, for those who only make 40k a year and are asked to come up with 3000 dollars a year for a modest 3-bedroom home, to someone like me who makes a good living and saved and worked hard to have a beautiful home and wants to retire one day and be able to keep it.

Let us be rewarded for our hard work. It is the American dream, to work and provide a home for yourself and your family, and it is discouraged because you are essentially handed a fine for having a nice home. Encourage people to make their neighborhood more beautiful by building their dream home or improving the house they are in without the worry of not being able to afford the taxes.