Letter: Homeowners pay price in tax increase

Friday, Oct. 16, 1998 | 11:48 a.m.

This new home will now become more attractive than my home to a prospective buyer. There will be little difference in price and I will not be able to market mine, and move up to a newer home, because new buyers leap over me.

Subsidizing the new home in effect devalues the existing homes that may be on the market. I now have to lower the price of my property to compete. This in all probability pleases the Home Builders Association, for now they sell to more buyers with less experience and less critical of craftsmanship and value. A first-time buyer is easier to please than someone who has had experience with potential problems.

As a taxpayer I should not be asked to subsidize the cost of making a property marketable with a tax increase. Rewrite the measure without devaluing my present property and I'll vote for it. Existing home sales and values are hurt when new construction can compete at the same level as current property.

Ken Savoy

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