Good Old Bill’s Testimony

I came to Reno 50 years ago. I have lived in Verdi for 26 years. I bought a one acre lot in 1974 for $10,000.

The lot across the street just sold for $350,000 –cash. I built my home in 1979 for $115,000 so my total cost for housing was about $125,000. The mortgage is now paid off. The house down the street just sold for $1.2 million. The property taxes on that house are $9,000 per year.

My wife and I live on Social Security which amounts to about $20,000 per year. We don’t qualify for food stamps and we don’t get welfare. I own two cars – one is old enough to vote and the 0ther is old enough to drink. My cowboy boots are over 20 years old and my levies are over 10 years old.

If my house is assessed for $1.2 million, which there is every reason to believe it will be; and my taxes are $9,000 per year – That’s $750 per month. I can’t afford to pay that.

Now, before someone jumps up and says, “You’re lucky Bill. You have a free and clear home worth over a million bucks – You’re rich!” I can’t eat my house. If I’m forced to sell, because I can’t pay the taxes, where am I going to move? Cleveland? With all due respect for the folks in Cleveland, I don’t want to live there.

We need a proposition 13 for the state of Nevada.