In a divided decision today, the Supreme Court decided that cities who had a development plan could seize property from homeowners after paying them "just compensation," and that the economic benefit outweighed the homeowners property rights.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor issued a strong dissent and said that," Any proprty may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms." She was joined in her dissent by Justice Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas. (www.yahoo.com)
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You will have to use a lot more due dilligence prior to signing on the dotted line.
ReplyDeleteYou will need to do more than just look at a house before the purchase.
You will need to know the capacity of the school and it's age.
You will need to assess whether your there for the long term or short term. If your in it for the long term you will probably need to check out the city's current or future plan for your potential property.
How close is it to any new building that is going on. Ask yourself if it would be likey that a city would build something else on the site where you wish to live.
The purchasing checklist will need to be revised.
That sounds like a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI think the ruling gives the power to the city. However, power at the state level is an interesting concept to a recurring theme throughout a lot of our posts. Our property taxes our too high. I have been critical of the city for some of their decisions. I would like to say that all cities and states are having a rough time. The Bush administration has cut taxes, while fighting a war in Iraq which is wrong in my opinion. Whether you support the war or not, taxes have never been cut during a time of war.
ReplyDeleteSome of the more progressive states are instituting a progressive tax (graduating tax rate based on income rather than the typical flat tax that states usually have) to reclaim the tax cuts to the wealthy. They are using these new state tax revenues to fund education, medicaid and other social programs that the Bush Administration has cut to support their tax cuts. I encourage everyone to listen to progressive radio for ideas like these. You can listen online to Madison's Air America syndicate at
http://www.themic921.com/main.html
I don't get good reception on the radio here in Evansville.