If you don't want to enforce the property taxes then why have them at all?

...or, people could just be honest and file for the proper permits before enlarging their homes, and governments wouldn't have to resort to such Orwellian measures to make sure they collect the proper amount of tax for each property.

/ NIMBY

Weaver95: This is why my next house is going to be 90% underground.

I'm with ya.

Weaver95: This is why my next house is going to be 90% underground.

Damn Hobbits! Shave your feet.

Use Google Earth.

Ima showem my ass!

A new high-tech aerial photography system that can spot an illegal porch from 5,000 feet is being marketed to tax assessors as a way to grow revenue.

Farkin' damnit... you mean I could have gotten greedy taxmen to pay me for a link to Google Maps?fark... this is why I'm poor.

clancifer: HERO tag needed for the state senator.

Bah. People fly over houses all the time. Sometimes, they even look down.

It's not spying when you're generically surveying entire areas. There is no target here. There is no invasion of privacy, either.

In the end, there is no "big deal". Hell, it even seems responsible.

As someone who works with Pictometry data, you'd be shocked at the type of structures, including entire houses, that people have built out of sight on their property. Solely for the purpose to avoid property taxes. In today's tight economic times, you're damn right local governments will pursue every angle (literally in this case) to correctly assess property.

The article fails to point out the power of bird's-eye photography for criminal prosecution, barricaded gunman scenarios, and fire inspections. There are also myriad uses in the fields of environmental science and geologic research.

Good to see that at least one lawmaker understands the concept of "search warrant".

The more I think about it, if you build an addition on your house - Put grass on your roof!

What's wrong with govt officials checking lumber and drywall records once a week at Home Depot and local Lumber Yards? Thad-ud be easier.

They will spend all sorts of time and effort to squeeze some extra dough out of the guy who put a garden shed in his back yard. Yet ignore some huge corporate entity getting away with 100 times the potential revenue due to some sort of creative bookkeeping.

Ya see, this is where a Stinger missile would come in real handy.

/What?
//Who in fark likes to pay taxes?

They do this everywhere.

I guess I'd better finish that missile silo and bunker before my town starts doing this. My camouflage will have to be more elaborate than I planned.

Today, it is cost prohibitive to have data collectors go door to door to verify property improvements. Pictometry makes it possible for assessors to assure everyone pays their fair share.

zamboni: Hal Jalykakik: ...or, people could just be honest and file for the proper permits before enlarging their homes, and governments wouldn't have to resort to such Orwellian measures to make sure they collect the proper amount of tax for each property.

/ NIMBY

...and if people have been honest, and have filed for the proper permits before enlarging their homes it would have changed this... how?

Correct! Not at all. Big brother does not trust its subjects. They are liars and cheats and must be monitored for the good of the government.

Why bother wiping afterward? I'll just end up going again.

sale of camouflage shingles in 3..... 2.... 1....

Another Democrat I would vote for time and again.

/Independent

The whole idea of property taxes stinks. Why should I rent my property from the gov't?

A one-time sales tax is fine. Holding my property hostage every year isn't.

I don't see any way to stop it.

Googleearth carries a pretty decent photo of my house, from dead overhead; anywho.com has a much clearer pic, and so does zillow.com, both pretty clear.

They show where I was nailing up plywood, and also where I had a tarp over the roof 'cause I was too lazy to fix a big leak.

Big Brother is here to stay.

A) Evil is negative
B) Good is positive
C) Evil done in the name of good = Evil * Good

dameron: submitter: Towns use aerial photography to spot additions to homes that would raise their property taxes. State senator: When it gets to the point where we're doing aerial spying on people's lives, I've had enough"

I'm sure he's fine with aerial surveillance to spot marijuana plots on people's property.

That's what I was wondering about. DEA flies over my house/farm on a regular basis. I don't recall anyone worrying about my rights, but I could be wrong.

Me thinks we need to rig a cloak generator from a puddle jumper to tie into the city shield, effectively turning it into a cloak.

/obscure? hope not.

Meh. I'm not terribly impressed. So they're looking at publicly available pictures of your house and going "Hmmmm.... that doesn't match up with the report she gave us..." Taking aerial photographs is not illegal and I'm sorry taxdodgers, using them this way is fine. Don't build more house than you're willing to pay for.

Galius_Persnickety: The whole idea of property taxes stinks. Why should I rent my property from the gov't?

A one-time sales tax is fine. Holding my property hostage every year isn't.

And then there's always that. How is one supposed to be secure in his person and property when said property can be confiscated because you haven't paid a property tax or assessment you didn't get to vote on?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)

People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation

Galius_Persnickety: The whole idea of property taxes stinks. Why should I rent my property from the gov't?

A one-time sales tax is fine. Holding my property hostage every year isn't.

Came here to biatch along these lines. Yeah, you worked hard and bought your home, you own it outright, but if you don't pay taxes on it, Uncle Sam will take it away. Nice.


/renter
//probably never be able to get a home loan the way things are looking
///my first slashies!

HA HA I added a 1800sq ft addition to my house four years ago and they still haven't caught it.

Real estate taxes should be based on square footage and not value. If you decide to have 12 kids and need a 3500 sq.ft. house then you should pay more than a couple that have a 1400 sq. ft. house that have decided to fix it up beyond all the neighbor's houses.

Not sure I understand the issue.

Unless you do the additions personally, then you use a reputable contractor. A reputable contractor knows he needs to get the appropriate permits from the local village, township, or county to make those improvements. If he does not, his livelihood in the local area may be impacted. At that point in time, the local government make inspections to verify those improvements are up to code.

So unless you are a hermit living in the real outback and performing your own improvements, chances are you are being assessed correctly already.

Just another waste of time by government officials to monitor for the actions of the very few that could possibly slip through the cracks.

LOGICAL_PSYCHO: HA HA I added a 1800sq ft addition to my house four years ago and they still haven't caught it.

That is a big addition. 60 by 30 and nobody has noticed?