Our local kleptomanic school district had another of those ceaseless bond elections this past weekend where the registered voters got to choose if the area's property owners should be robbed for even more than usual to provide a "free-to-them" education for more students. Fortunately the "It's-mine-and-I-intend-to-keep-it" crowd slightly outnumbered the "We-want-it-and-we're-gonna-take-it" crowd and the bond was not approved but that old fallacy about "good" public schools increasing property values was touted over and over as a win-win situational reason for the bond to be approved. Let's see if we can settle that one once and for all.
Anything that can increase the desirability of a commodity amongst consumers will increase demand which can lead to an increase in value. Good schools can be a priority on the list a potential real estate customer has in mind but so can convenient shopping centers, movie theaters, and medical clinics and these are usually provided by private parties through the workings of the free-market. Public schools no matter their quality are funded for the most part through property taxes and property taxes increase the cost of owning property.
The higher the cost of owning a piece of real estate is, the less it becomes desirable to purchase and that can leave the seller in a bind. The seller will have to give some incentives to move the buyer into the decision to purchase and the number one method of doing this is to reduce his asking price. If the seller has to reduce the price he wants for his property, then the property is of less value to him now than it was before the tax.
So when the parasites from your local school district come promising you that by increasing your property taxes they will increase the value of your property, put on a flea collar, spray some tick repellent, light a mosquito candle, and let them know they are only fooling themselves...
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