There was a considerable amount of thoughtful opposition to electric utility de-regulation in Massachusetts---I'm not sure what the final outcome was, if any, in your state regarding the property tax angle. But, in a lot of states the electric utility corporations and the big energy corporations are going to skate, while the average taxpayer is going to pick up the bill for lost property taxes on switchgear, power plants etc.
Find out which corporations in your area have property tax abatement---if you can.
Tom
Gregory Geboski wrote:
> Tom Lehman: << I don't know where you are writing from, but, you will be
> shocked if you just scratch the
> surface of the abated property tax issue in the state in which you live!
>
> One new wrinkle in the property tax abatement game is the electric utility
> deregulation
> angle now going on in all but a few states...I don't know where you are
> writing from, but, you will be shocked if you just scratch the
> surface of the abated property tax issue in the state in which you live!
>
> One new wrinkle in the property tax abatement game is the electric utility
> deregulation
> angle now going on in all but a few states...>>
>
> Are you mixing up property tax abatements (issued by counties,
> municipalities, etc.) with all tax breaks in general? Because I'm familiar
> with the electricity dereg actions (in general, if not in detail, because
> these laws are designed to be unintelligible to citizens) and I don't see
> property tax abatements as a major part, or even a part, of them. In
> Massachusetts, electricity dereg passed through a typical
> corporate-sponsored ballot initiative in 1998. From what I can tell, the
> electric company is making their millions in sanctioned fraud the
> old-fashioned way: Direct rip-off of the consumer.
>
> Corporations fight tax measures tooth and nail, but here they focus on
> capital gains taxes, corporate taxes (a none-starter, they're so secure)
> and, increasingly, income taxes, which affect their big execs and the
> interests of their class. (They show impressive class consciousness all
> around, I must say.) They are more likely to starve schools on the state
> level, a crucial funding source here and in much of the country. Property
> tax fights are pushed by the real estate interests, a powerful group, for
> sure, but not corporate capital.
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: Tom Lehman <TLehman at lor.net>
> Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: Property Taxes and Public Education Financing
> Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 21:13:32 -0500
>
> I don't know where you are writing from, but, you will be shocked if you
> just scratch the..
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