LETTER TO THE EDITOR
If you own property in texas or Bandera County … THIS MAY IMPACT YOU!
Value of Conex box determination.
How is the value of a conex box evaluated.
I see that it is determined by what I might go over to the conex seller and buy it for. IF this is correct, then.. His price is determined by the value of the conex box ( what he paid for it) plus cost of transport to the current destination, plus any profit he might want to make on the item.
It really should be viewed as : the value of item; the transition cost ( transportation cost, etc); profit margin.
The first value which is what I see being utilized is converting a transitional cost to a tangible item. And the profit margin to a tangible item which neither really have anything to do with a taxable value determination. Value is artificially inflated with this method.
In regard to temperary status on a storage.. what is the definition of this. I was told way back that IF I moved a RV or a bldg at least 2 ft every other year that it would maintain a temperary status and not be taxable. I am now told that this is not so..with this.. what is the definition of temperary ?
The person incurring the transitional cost deemed it as a tax deduction not an income. Yet now the person aquiring this item is paying a sales tax on this as well as a property tax as it has now become a taxable thing not a transitional cost to be reimbursed to the originator. IF the person aquiring this item were to go and buy this else where and transport it the tax would not be incurred on the transport yet via an appraisal would still be there and it become tangible, taxable item in the near future. Thus his expense is now taxable?? It is not a deduction unless he sells it as a business. IF he sells it as an individual the expense could potentially be converted to an income? And for sure it will be taxed in all the years he owns this item.
Depriciation by definition is decreassing the value of something due to the cost of ownership. Typically taxation would be a cost of ownership incurred. If this is an accurate definition then property value should be depreciated each year by this dollar value. I would think this would apply to commodities such as a conex box or buildings. How does this come into play on property taxes? I might can get an income tax deduction in cases for repairs and replacement costs, but when I have no income how are my maintenance cost taken into account ? What I have seen in Texas is that the value on my property (land) goes up most years by the amout or more than the property tax. This allows a property owner to recoup the taxes he paid over time via a sale, but what does it do for the person that wants to retire to his life long home?
Waterfront property: There is no legal definition of what waterfront property is in Bandera County. You might own a single foot of waterfront and have 500 acres to be all taxed at a waterfront rate on it all. Most other states I looked at have definitions of what taxable property is defined as. Texas leaves it mostly up to the appraiser to determine what is and is not a taxable value and for individuals to protest.
Texas has become a place where during a person’s working carreer that hopefuly not paying an income tax and paying a property tax are a wash in net income to that person. But when a person retires and has no or very little income, then his propety taxes continue. This makes it a state that is not good for retiring persons to live. I bring this up to hopefully make it visible that tax reform is a needed thing and make people aware of this that If it is not done, then many will be forced to leave what they called home and move to another place or liquidate taxable assets and not be able to enjoy what they spent their lives working for.
As I see things here. WE the PEOPLE need to stand up and voice our opinioins on this. I am voicing my thoughts in hope that more will join me and that I can manage to retire to my home of almost 30 years. If not, I will have to look to sell and move on to something else.
Please excuse any typos or gramatical errors that I may have made.
Thank you for reading and the support you offer for myself and YOU!
- Ray Chandler
Pipe Creek