Landowners: "View tax" will destroy NH way of life

I have reported on this before and as you know I believe property taxes to be unconstitutional, but a view tax doesn't cross a line it jumps off a cliff...

From the AP:

Critics warned yesterday that continuing to include the "view tax" component in property assessments will fragment the state and destroy its rural character.

Orford tree farmer Tom Thomson said the tax will force farmers to sell off their land in small parcels.

"If you push us landowners off the edge, it's going to be fragmented," he told the House Municipal and County Government Committee. "That's not a threat. That's a promise."

Thomson urged the committee to back legislation barring officials from including the value of a property's view in its appraisal. Thomson and others told the committee putting a value on a view is too subjective. The state has no definition of how to assess a view, he said.

"You're paying a tax on something you don't own and have no control over," said Rick Samson of Stewartstown. "We're being taxed on something that's arbitrary."

Samson said a home with a view of Lake Francis out one window was assigned an assessment for the lake view, but not given a discount for the view of a dump out another window.

But Judy Silva of the New Hampshire Municipal Association said views have been included in assessments for a long time.

BULL! I reported on the individual with land with no services who's land value went from 20,000.00 to over 200,000.00!!

People when are you going to wake up to the fact it is WRONG to tax people on something they OWN as private property!

It is unconscionable to tax people out of private property ownership! Isn't this obvious to EVERYBODY?