Property Tax Revolt?

[FTL_Ian]

Trying is the predecessor to failing.

Do or do not.   

[Kat Kanning]

 

[Friday]

Is anyone planning on being in Keene on the 30th?

I will be there, and will help distribute fliers and/or hold a sign. 

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this.  While I agree that you are right in principle (by the way, how about mentioning those of us who choose to not even HAVE children, and still get stuck holding the bag for other people?), and I have an enormous amount of respect for your courage, I think that more is involved and is at stake here.  I assume the purpose of doing this publicly, and sending out press releases about it, is to inform and educate as many people as possible that the current system is screwed up, you will not participate any more, and you are encouraging others to do so as well.  But speaking does no good if your words are misinterpreted, and this is an action that is almost guaranteed to be both honestly misinterpreted, and intentionally distorted by the opposition.  I would hope that you'll put a lot of thought and effort into the public statements you make about this (including on this forum).  Please emphasize the positives (you are trying to take the best possible care of your child; you believe that public schools harm children and feel it is morally wrong to support them; etc.) rather than the perceived negatives (you disagree with the majority of society and don't give a fig what they think, screw them, you're keeping your money; you don't care what happens to other people's children, even though, right or wrong, a certain percentage of the current American population is dependent upon public schools for both the education of, and daycare for, their children, who are of course innocent and powerless in this matter). And I find what Ed Naile has to say on the subject very, very sobering. No offense intended, just expressing my opinion.

Giving the tax underpayment to the LSF is a BRILLIANT idea!!  That should go a very long way towards deflating any arguments re: "selfish", "don't care about the children", etc. I would really play that up. For example, the headline of press releases could be "Local Tax Protester to Give Taxes to Private Scholarship Fund, not Government".  edit: Oops, looks like you're already doing that. 

[PattyE]

I thought I would share this letter that was emailed today to Maine property owners who are also struggling with increasing property tax rates.  A few letters really can make a difference! 


Greetings!

United States Senator George Mitchell once told Mainers that if he
received a total of ten letters from Mainers on a bill before the U.S.
Congress, he paid attention to that particular issue.  And if he
received 30 letters, he knew he had to get right on top of the issue and
work diligently on it. 

As a former Representative to the Maine Legislature recently said, "I
assure you that a mere few letters from constituents had a profound
effect on my colleagues and me.  There is great power in one, two, or
three communications from a legislator's constituents because he or she
is usually hearing only from lobbyists and professional organizations."

If you believe that tax reform for Maine homeowners is urgently needed,
and that you should pay no more than five percent of your income for
property taxes on your home, you can have a great bearing on how your
state legislator votes on this issue.  Go to www.voicesforreform.net
<http://www.voicesforreform.net/>  for help with contacting your
legislator and the governor.  Tell your legislator and the governor to
support the following:

Reform Maine taxes to limit residential property taxes on Maine
households to no more than five percent of household income by balancing
income, sales and property tax revenues, further expanding the Maine
Residents Property Tax Program and realigning and reducing government
spending.

Please join me by taking action on this important matter just as soon as you can.  You can help in two ways:

*     Please communicate with legislators and the governor by visiting
www.voicesforreform.net <http://www.voicesforreform.net/>  to  send e-mail messages and then place telephone calls to them.
*     Please circulate this e-mail to your own e-mail list of Mainers with the same two requests.   

I hope that you will join our grassroots effort to create an expanding flood of communication and action on this important Maine issue.

Sincerely,

Charles Enders

[Kat Kanning]

That's kind of creepy...mixing property and income taxes.

[GT]

Just curious, for the history buffs. What were property taxes like 100+ years ago? Did they tax the value of the house or just your land?

[foreverfree]

Thanks!?

Most of the changes include your exact quotes from earlier posts in the NH Underground forums.?

I'll send it out right now!

Does anyone have the contact info of a reporter at the Keene Sentinel that you can send to me in a private message?? Thanks.

Keene Sentinel....WOW big press release....pfff

[Friday]

It's nice that you have the time to school your little troll...

Classy.

[Dave Ridley]

I've e-mailed or called 30 folks total about this to invite them, folks in-state mostly. 

[Dave Ridley]

Nice job Mike:
Here's a suggested minor rewrite that builds on your improvements.   I changed the headline and Kat the first quote is a little different, will need your approval.

The sentence beginning "Dillon says her protest" is a little different now also
no other changes i recall making


BELOW AWAITING APPROVAL, NOT YET READY FOR RELEASE

Keene mom sending tax money to charity instead of city

Keene, NH, June 23, 2005 - 38-year-old Kat Dillon isn't satisfied she's getting her money's worth from government schools.  In fact, she says she isn't getting anything from them at all.

"My child is homeschooled," says Dillon.  "She's never gone to public school and never will.   Government-run schools do nothing that benefits my family, and they have done more harm than good to society.  So it's wrong to make me pay for them."

To drive her point home, Dillon will appear at Keene City Hall on June 30 with a check for only 42% of what the city says she and her family owe.  She will donate the other 58% to the Liberty Scholarship Fund (LSF), a statewide non-profit that gives scholarships to families which help cover the costs of private schooling or homeschooling.   Dillon is Vice Chair of the LSF.

"The part that would have gone to public schools...we're donating it to the Liberty Scholarship Fund.  This will help other people leave the public school system."

Dillon says her protest is intended to highlight what she calls the unfairness of New Hampshire's tax system, which forces people to pay for government schools regardless of whether they use or approve of them.  She adds, "this would be so much better if they just didn't take my tax money in the first place.  Why aren't families like ours exempt from paying the school portion of property taxes?"

After handing over her truncated check, Dillon will lead a protest outside city hall urging other "alternative education" families to "recalculate" their taxes as well.  She says she has no idea whether her act of noncompliance will inspire anyone else to do the same but that her family will "do this alone if necessary."

Dillon is no stranger to protest.  On June 11 her husband Russell Kanning made national news when he chose arrest over compliance with TSA regulations at Manchester Airport.  And it was Dillon who received the infamous nail buff from "Outlaw Manicurist" Mike Fisher.  In May, Fisher gave her an unlicensed manicure in front of the state licensing board and also went to jail for it.   

The soft-spoken computer programmer says she recognizes her act of civil disobedience will probably trigger retaliation, possibly even the loss of her home.  "But," she says, "it's the right thing to do."

Summary:

What:  Civil disobedience against the school portion of property taxes.
How:  By handing over a check that does not include the "school portion" of the tax, then leading a protest.
Why:   Because people shouldn't be forced to pay for a system they don't use or agree with.
Where:  Keene City Hall: 3 Washington St. (at the traffic circle), Keene, NH.
When:  10:00 A.M. Thursday, June 30, 2005.
Who:  Kat Dillon of Keene, supporters from NHfree.com
Contacts:  Kat Dillon (603) 357-2049, Mike Fisher (603) 498-7935, Backup:  Dave Ridley (603) 721-1490
Latest details will appear at NHfree.com


ABOVE AWAITING APPROVAL, NOT YET READY FOR RELEASE

[foreverfree]

It's nice that you have the time to school your little troll...

Classy.

Have you seen those two!!?  There is no way they produced anything BUT a little troll...poor kid

[Michael Fisher]

Friday,

Unfortunately, the immorality of single people paying school taxes is probably the most difficult point for us to get across. ?I think it will be much easier if we focus on alternative education families first. ?It's a start, and this issue is obviously just to most people, one of the prerequisites to a successful civil disobedience event.


Possible Signage:

WE HOMESCHOOL.
WE WILL NOT PAY
FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

WHY PAY FOR
EDUCATION
TWICE?

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION FAMILIES
SHOULD BE EXEMPT
FROM SCHOOL TAXES

HOMESCHOOLERS
SHOULD BE EXEMPT FROM
PUBLIC SCHOOL TAXES

WE HOMESCHOOL.
WE SHOULD BE EXEMPT
FROM SCHOOL TAXES

WHY PAY FOR
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
IF YOU HOMESCHOOL?

LEAVE
PUBLIC
SCHOOLS

I DONATED MY
SCHOOL TAXES
TO THE LIBERTY
SCHOLARSHIP FUND

[Kat Kanning]

Have you seen those two!!?  There is no way they produced anything BUT a little troll...poor kid

Attacking my child?  That's really low.  Please refrain from doing this in future.

[Michael Fisher]

"My child is homeschooled," says Dillon.? "She's never gone to public school and never will.? ?Government-run schools do nothing that benefits my family, and they have done more harm than good to society.? So it's wrong to make me pay for them."

That is more principled than the PR that I created. ?

I hoped I wasn't watering down the message too much with the moderate "tax exemption" talk.

[foreverfree]

Have you seen those two!!?? There is no way they produced anything BUT a little troll...poor kid

Attacking my child?? That's really low.? Please refrain from doing this in future.

Get used to it.  That kid is going to get nothing more than BERATED when she hits society....keep her home schooled and in the closet or basement...for our sake and hers