Letters to the editor Aug. 11

Property taxes a theft of equity 

Property taxes are marketed as a civic duty, but in reality, they’re an insidious drain on homeowner equity and a major contributor to unaffordability. Every year, families who’ve worked hard to pay off their homes are forced to “rent” them back from the government — forever. 

Worse, property taxes often target unrealized gains. Just because a home’s value has increased on paper doesn’t mean the owner has received any financial benefit. Taxing people on hypothetical wealth they haven’t accessed is unfair and destabilizing, especially for retirees on fixed incomes and working-class families struggling to stay afloat. 

We’ve reached a point where people who’ve responsibly invested in their communities are being punished for it. The rising cost of housing is bad enough. But continuous, compulsory property taxes lock people into a cycle that stifles financial stability and pushes families out of neighborhoods they helped build. 

Homeownership should be a foundation for generational wealth — not a government-managed gamble. It’s time to rethink how we fund local services without hijacking the very stability we’re all working toward. 

— Rick Walker, Kalispell

The facts

The Daily Inter Lake on Aug. 7 published a letter titled “The Whole Story” that purported to tell the story of the tariffs of 1890. 

It’s ironic that it used this title since the whole story is that by 1890 the U.S. had become the largest manufacturer in the world by far. The Democrats swept the 1892 election winning both houses and the presidency. It was not a midterm election by the way. 

What the author failed to point out were the events following the 1892 election. The panic of 1893 led the worst economic depression in U.S. history.  It lasted through the rest of the decade and had a devastating impact on the people of the U.S. In the next midterm election in 1894, Republicans swept both houses in a landslide rejection of Democratic policies.

As Winston Churchill should have said, “Those who do not learn (factual) history are doomed to repeat it.”

— Steve Regis, Lakeside