Tax increase in Carlisle for 2013

WHTM reports that Carlisle has approved a tax increase for 2013:

Carlisle Borough Council has narrowly approved its 2013 budget Thursday night and it includes a 7 percent tax increase.


It's a new fire tax that's expected to bring in $300,000 to the borough. That money can only be used for emergency services.

Also Thursday, council members said they'll begin working on the 2014 budget in January because early projections show a $200,000-$300,000 deficit.

Given the projected budget deficit for 2014, will we see another tax increase next year?

Tax abatement in Newville; Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act

According to the Carlisle Sentinel, Newville Borough is considering a tax abatement program under Pennsylvania's Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act that would provide tax relief to property owners for improving their properties:

The act allows municipalities, school districts and counties to offer tax incentives for revitalization projects to attract land developers to an area.

If enacted, property owners would not pay taxes on changes to their home’s assessment for up to $40,000 of improvements over a period of three years.

The Act requires each taxing authority of a "deteriorated area" to designate, by local ordinance, the area eligible for tax abatement.  In Newville's case, Big Spring School District also has to approve the program. 

Similar programs are under consideration in Crawford County and Greencastle, Franklin County.

Over half a million family farms at risk from 2013 estate tax increase

Earlier I wrote about higher estate taxes threatening family farms beginning in 2013.  Today, the Washington Examiner reported that 526,421 family farms are at risk from these higher taxes:

New legislation that jumps the death tax to 55 percent of estates exceeding $1 million threatens 526,421 family farms, or about 25 percent of all farms in America, according to a Senate analysis.

The Examiner article does not address the effect that such a tax increase will have on real estate prices, but the consequences will be far reaching and long lasting.

Chinese buyers purchasing increasing share of U.S. residential real estate

Foreign buyers now purchase an ever larger share of U.S. residential real estate, with Chinese buyers accounting for a growing portion of that share:

According to the National Association of Realtors, non-American buyers accounted for $82 billion in home sales last year. More than $7 billion of that is by the Chinese, who are now the second largest foreign home purchasers after Canadians. They're buying high-end, multimillion-dollar homes from California to New York and paying cash.

Public housing melee in Columbus, Ohio

The collapse of the housing market has led to increased demand for public housing.  Will recent incidents like this one in Ohio (10TV.com) become more common as more people compete for limited government housing?

Columbus Police sprayed Mace on several people in a crowd that had gathered to sign up for a list to get subsidized housing at a northwest Columbus apartment complex.

Police said the crowd started to gather Friday night for the Saturday morning event at The Heritage apartment complex on Gatewood Road near Sunbury Road in northeast Columbus.
Authorities said that its highest number, the crowd reached 2,000 people. . . . . . According to police, a melee broke out when the manager of the complex started to set up for the event just before 7 a.m. Saturday morning.