I have lived in Carmichael for 5 years
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7/28/2006
and it is ridiculous to see half a million dollar homes a mere 10 blocks away from $900/month apartment rentals. The cap on property taxes prevents the collection of sufficient tax revenue to maintain the roads and schools. Yes, we have $500,000 homes just miles away from overcrowded schools with leaky roofs (not enough tax money to fix a leak?) On the otherhand, our babyboomer homeowners are quite pleased at only having to pay tax on the original ($150,000) purchase price of there home (while receiving practically free healthcare); what do they care about the schools, their kids have long been gone. So, around here, babyboomers are making out like bandits (free healthcare, obscenely low taxes) while the rest of us are marginalized because we don't have $300,000 equity in our homes to send the kids to private schools. The fiscal future of this State is doomed which is why, now that I have found a job out of state that will allow me to purchse more than a shack for $300k, I am leaving. Enter at your own risk.
Jeff | Carmichael, CA