Rich property owners thankful for Georgian Republicans

The GOP in Georgia is attempting to overthrow the progressive taxation on property with a regressive sales tax in order to pay for public schools:

The Keen-Richardson proposal could mean a huge financial break for property owners. An average of 55 percent of local property tax bills go to the schools. In 2003, the Revenue Department says property taxes collected statewide for school maintenance and bonds totaled $4.6 billion.

In Fulton County, eliminating the school tax would reduce the property taxes on a $200,000 house by about $1,500. A 3 percent increase in sales tax for a family making $100,000 a year would represent an average increase of about $1,500.

The state sales tax now is 4 percent, but local taxes vary. In Atlanta, the total is 8 percent.

State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, said a 3 percent sales tax increase would be devastating for poor, the elderly and people living on fixed incomes.

Yes, I'm all for encouraging property ownership, but I'm not sure this is going to do it. Those who are saving money in an effort to purchase a home will now see their attempts to save further limited by higher taxes. Those already in a house who can afford it now will pay even less in taxes.

The example in the article compared a 200k household with a 100k earning family. No imagine the homestead is worth 500k, or 2 million dollars. Imagine how much they will save on the backs of those less fortunate.

One more quick thought. Those in the country generally own their own land and typically vote Republican, right? City folk who live in apartments will be the ones who see the biggest increase in their taxes (as they currently pay no property tax), and they tend to be more Democratic.