I believe NO ONE should pay property taxes once mortgage is paid!

- I adamantly believe no-one should have to pay property taxes once they pay off their mortgage, and I pose a new formula P - E = APTV.
- Real property owners living in their dwellings should be able to pay off their mortgages, and keep their homes safe from a tax foreclosure.
- If you work hard all your life, pay off your mortgage, you should not be forever charged by the tax assessor. Isn’t this one of the reasons why we revolted against King George in the first place?
- I propose a gradual lessening of accessed property tax value based on a amortization schedule.
- In other words, as your principle is reduced (e.g. P - E = APTV), so shall your assessed property tax values, accordingly.
- But bottom line, once you pay off your mortgage, you will no longer be assessed property taxes.
- I call it the Principle - Equity = Accessed Property Tax Value. ($200,000 (principle on day one of 30 year mortgage) - $100,000 (equity on year 15) = $100,000 (Balance of Principle @ ATV).
- I believe it is wrong that the tax assessor can foreclose on a hard working residents' property just because they fall on hard financial times, or catastrophic occurrences.
- I have talked to South Dakota residents' who can't afford to retire due to fear of having to sell their homestead just because they cannot afford to pay property taxes on a retirement income. I call this the property tax mouse trap! This is simply wrong!
- All real property owners' who actually reside in their dwellings will be exempt from assessed property taxes if their mortgages are paid in full. This law is also applicable to farm owners, but only for the land on which the house and out buildings sit. All agricultural/plowable acres would be taxed at the current/new assessed values, based on what they actually can earn, not on a speculated maximum use potential.
- This is also true of commercial real property not inhabited by the actual property owners.
- This property tax plan does not prohibit local governments imposing property taxes; it just regulates how much and how long such taxes will be allowed to be assessed. Any real property owner, who lives in the dwelling will be granted immunity from property taxes as long as they pay off their mortgage, and do not refinance/remortgage their real property.