Tax fix full of holes

I applaud Fayette Property Valuation Administrator David O'Neill stepping up immediately after the newspaper’s expose on unfair property tax issues. However, he left a gaping hole in the fix that doesn’t make a bit of sense.

Why in the world would he allow people who have owned land for five or more years to continue benefiting from the tax dodge scam? Am I to accept that if my neighbor (knowingly or unknowingly) underpaid property taxes for 1,825 days, he should be allowed to keep doing it, but I’ve only underpaid for 1,824 days so I don’t? Does it make sense to anyone that an arbitrary number of days decides a fair rate of property tax?

Also, why postpone the fix? Why would he give anyone almost another full year of unjustified tax relief? It would be much more equitable to start taxing all fairly on July 1. Our schools could use the $200,000 a half year of fair property taxes would bring.

While at first glance it might seem unworkable to properly assess the non-farm properties involved in unfair assessments, I disagree. The property descriptions are already on file in the PVA office. Using those descriptions would be very manageable for the first effort to make property taxes equitable countywide. Verifications and necessary adjustments could take place next year.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Tax fix full of holes."