dr.commuter,I have been coming to D.R. for many decades and this property tax thing is new, in most latin american countries is hardly any,property taxes will enslave you in perpetuity. My current California Taxes are $6200 a year,and what do I get for it?? In the 25 years I lived here never called any sevices or use the indoctrination centers (public schools)or even drink the tap water.
The luz problem have been in R.D. as far as I remember and no P/T will ever cure it
I cannot tell you how "new" the property taxes are here in the D.R. but I bought my first house in 2000 and was fully aware of the tax obligation from that date on. So at the very least they are 11 years old.
OK so your taxes in CA are $6,200 and you ask what do you get for it. Well even though you don't use public schools many do, so those schools and the teachers salaries are paid by those taxes, however we will leave them out for the sake of simplifying the discussion. You don't drink the tap water, ok, good for you, let's forget about clean, drinkable water also.
The fact is in the United States, the general property tax pays for police, fire department, sanitation service, highway department, certain free medical services, building and maintaining parks, public recreational services, public libraries, local infrastructure, etc.
I really don't know exactly what you were meaning to say when you stated
"In the 25 years I lived here never called any sevices". I'm assuming by your post you have never had occassion to call the fire department or police department, or an emergency ambulance (911), and perhaps you don't drive on any of the roads, maybe you don't go to any parks, never played basketball, baseball, football on any publc fields, or never go to the public library.
You ask what do you get for your $6,200 you pay each year in property taxes, I can't answer specifically what YOU get, but I would believe that the services I mentioned above, and many more, are probably available to the residents of the municipality in which you live.
However I can answer specifically what you DON'T GET for paying little or no property taxes in the Dominican Republic. Part of my original reply to the OP is a good example.
Imagine life without those services you pay tax for, well you can imagine it, you now live in the Dominican Republic. Just some quick examples - Police - a literal joke of corruption and incompetence. Call the police in an emergency see what happens. After a crime has been committed i.e., burglary, homicide, etc., what investigation and follow-up is there, it is literaly a joke. The fire department - call 911 and see what happens. Call 911 for a medical emergency, see what happens. The list goes on and on.
The quality of public education and condition of public schools, the condition of public hospitals, the condition of the roads, the total infrastructure of the DR, all very poor, to say the least. The next time you are really thirsty and have no "galon" of "purified" water around, have a drink of water out of your tap, good luck. These are just a few examples, there are many, many more.
Since you don't drink tap water the last part doesn't apply to you.
The point being, you "pretty much" get what you pay for. In the United States in most municipalites you get basic services which would be considered practically luxuries here in the Dominican Republic. In the Dominican Republic you pay little or nothing in property taxes and get little or nothing in return.
From the sound of your post you have the same contempt for paying property taxes in the United States as the OP, part of your opening statement makes this obvious,
"property taxes will enslave you in perpetuity". And with your reference to public schools as
"indoctrination centers" perhaps some discontent with the U.S. government also. Hey those are your opinions. However, they seem to be getting in the way of a
reasonable and accurate comparison of the general property tax situation in the United States and the Dominican Republic.
I can empathize with "some" of your complaints about property tax in the US. Where I have a home in NY my taxes are around $11,000. I'm not exactly thrilled about paying almost $1,000 a month in property taxes. However, I've been visiting the Dominican Republic for almost thirty years and have been living here on what could be considered a full-time basis for almost 15 years. I can see very clearly how both systems work, and I can tell you unequivocally there is NO COMPARISON.
Just a quick postscript. My opinions are only concerning a comparison of PROPERTY TAXES, and definitely not anybody's individual quality of life. I don't want to be accused of
"defending the entire American system", as the OP inaccuratley stated in a previous reply, or making a comparison of the total living experience here in the Dominican Republic with living in the United States. Those are subjects for another thread and completely inappropriate for this thread.
