LETTER: Correct property tax problem

In its Jan. 24 editorial, the Aiken Standard relies on a common quotation for the premise that the legislature should not act promptly to repeal a recently enacted residential property tax provision which arbitrarily places a higher tax burden on the buyers of a given residence, simply because they're "newbies." The property tax cap that applied to the property before the legislative change, is swept away for new owners.

A principal impetus behind this current "point of sale" two-tiered tax scheme arose from political pressure exerted by coastal community homeowners during the real estate boom, who wanted to shield themselves from the tax consequences of their property's appreciated value. And, local government entities, who never saw a property tax increase they didn't like, now resist the drive to repeal this patently unfair treatment that is applied to successive owners of a given property.

The Standard believes that this glaringly disparate recent tax change should be retained, unless and until the entire "questionable" S.C. tax code is revamped. Good luck on ever achieving that perfect world goal. Every plan to reach a complete overhaul of the federal tax code has gone nowhere through generations of federal politicians. Ditto for state governments that have tried it.

But, that's not the point. Here is a golden opportunity to correct at least one tax inequity, which the Standard wants to ignore.

So, here's a quote for the Standard editor, "Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right." (Dr. Phil). The principled play for the legislature is to make their inequitable and ill conceived decision right.

Sam and Joan Moffett

Aiken