By Charlie Meadows

Some years ago, I wrote an article, as well as made a few speeches, concerning what forms of taxation are better or worse than others. The answer is that property taxes are by far the worst for two reasons.

First because you can never really own you own property as you will have to pay these taxes forever, even after you have paid off the mortgage on your home.

The second reason is related to how insensitive property taxes are to your earning capacities. When a ripple occurs in life and you are flat on your back, not earning wages, you won’t have to pay much in income taxes. And if you don’t earn much, you spend less and don’t pay much in sales taxes. However, even in those circumstances your property taxes may increase, and you will have to pay them – or the sheriff will come, remove you, and put your home up for sale at a sheriff’s auction.

Therefore, I take keen interest in the several plans to eliminate property taxes. Gubernatorial candidates Mike Mazzei and Jake Merrick are both proposing legislation which would allow senior citizens and veterans to no longer have to pay property taxes. Both have been State Senators, and in my opinion, neither are likely to win their race for Governor, so they may not get traction for their plan.

Senator Shane Jett along with State Representative Jay Stegall and former State Representative Mike Reynolds are proposing the passage of State Question 843 to address the issue. I will get into some of the details about the proposed State Question.

But, before a State Question will be able to reach the statewide ballot, nearly identical legislation will be run to give leadership in the Oklahoma Legislature. It would allow us to reap the benefits of property tax elimination without having to circulate a petition. In all reality, many in leadership don’t want something like this to pass, as they prefer to collect lots of taxes and spend it the way they desire.

Under the proposed State Question, everyone in Oklahoma who pays property taxes and lives in their own home would have their property taxes reduced by one third the first year, two thirds the second year, and after three years would no longer have to pay property taxes. Those who own a second home, a business, rental properties or corporations which own property would still have to pay property taxes on those properties.

If successful, this will reduce property taxes statewide by around 16 percent. I expect the schools will vigorously oppose this measure. To a lesser degree there will be opposition from county officials. Counties receive about 10% of property taxes, which go to pay for the operational expenses for the various county offices such as county clerk, court clerk, assessor, treasurer, sheriff as well as paying for the liability and property insurance for all county owned buildings. Unlike schools, the counties can pass a small county sales tax if needed to cover those expenses.

To be successful, the sponsors of the State Question 843 initiative, must obtain 92,263 signatures – which means they will probably need around 105,000 signatures since some of the signatures will be found to be invalid and thrown out. While they will need some money for the effort, their plan is to use volunteers to gather the signatures. I believe Charity Lynch, Republican State Party Chair is willing to help by hosting training sessions for volunteers all over the state.

There is also a legislative proposal by State Senator David Bullard. His plan would apply to senior citizens age 65 or older who own their home and have it paid off. Some people rent all their life, therefore they are in effect paying the property taxes for their landlords, as that is part of the rental expense. Senator Bullard’s plan would be an incentive to buy a home and have it paid for by age 65. This would really be valuable for people living on a fixed income. We live in a modest home, and our property taxes run about $200 per month. We would love to have an extra $200 a month. I believe Senator Bullard’s plan should have the least resistance of any of the three plans and therefore may have the best chance of passing. Should his plan pass, it could be modified in the future to include more people.

Regardless of which plan that might pass, there will have to be some provision made to retire already existing bonded indebtedness. Many folks will support one or more of these ideas and other people will oppose all of them. As for me, I wholly support the concept of eliminating property taxes on a person’s home and will do all I can to advance the idea, and for any of the proposed plans.

Three residents in Logan County will soon be hosting a new podcast called the ABCs of Politics and Culture. In the way of an explanation, Aiya Kelley is the A, Bob Donohoo is the B and Charlie Meadows is the C. A case could easily be made that Logan County is the most conservative county in the state, and you can hear our perspective.

As such, I can’t wait to cover every important issue we deal with on our podcast. The elimination of property taxes is certainly one of those issues. It will be an hour long and will broadcast on Mondays and Tuesdays. We hope to be up and running by the time you read this.