If you are unaware of all financial life here is a harsh truth, in the last few years property values have dropped. Especially in California, a lot. Part of the bills you pay when you own a home is property taxes which are usually a percentage of your property value. This tax price is usually only decided on when you buy or sell the property. But , and this is a big but, apparently you can have it assessed for other reasons and that can effect your tax. (This is something we at the Nerd Family household are currently looking into for ourselves.)

So what would be the problem with a home owner getting a tax break because their home is worth less? Well, a good portion of the tax goes into the school districts. In Larry Ellison’s case he will be taking $250,000 a year out of the Portola Valley School District. Apparently his home value has dropped about $100 million from the districts assessment (or wasn’t worth that to begin with) and he doesn’t want to pay tax on it. Imagine! So based on everything he is due a $3 million refund. There is an entire article about the effect on the school district in the Palo Alto Daily News.

Now am I shocked or angry that they felt the need to do an article on the effect? No, but the issue is that it is his money and he has a right to it regardless of how much of it he has. That means that I have a right to my money too! I think that governments are going to fight all of these reassessments because they “need” the money more. That is just another case of the government thinking they can spend my money better than me. I say scrap the whole tax system and give me my money;)!