HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - March 22, 1989 (58)r".
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MARCH 22, 1989
SETTER RECEIVED
FROM NAOMI McCALLUM
CAREY REGARD?NG
HOUSING AND THE
HOMELESS The City Council received a letter from Naomi McCallum
Carey regarding housing and the homeless.
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REV'DIVE U 402 west Oak Street Apt C
Lodi, California y5240
�4 February 15, 1999
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Lodi, C; Y Y, 95240
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Members or the Council:
One thing to consider in discussing the homeless is
Not creating new ones. " k
People ,rEs usually praised for being smart enough to buy
something at a reasonably low price and enjoy it, for years,,
while those buying it latet- pay a higher price. But not irF'
the i^ome market. These people are r.•?sti.gated and acc�isea'of.�
being unwel::ome to strangers because they are paying tt►c3
reasonable taxes imposed upon them.
Those buying at a later date pay a higher price because.
of higher production costs, So it is with every item sal d..
In the used home market, additional costs can be attributes.`'
to maintenance, repair, additions to the property, locatian•
and a willing buyer in a popular market. (The fast aleo k dwo .ni
as: "set the price at what the market will bear").
In housing, a person must qualify for purchase.: (obi 1 i,ty
to pay is the basis for cash payment or a loam:: 7`he''taxes ons
that house value are able to be borne because th'e buyer s
income warrants it,
30 or 40 years later, a buyer in the housing market wi11
qual•iFy on the basis of income of that time for a house an
the market at that time. The taxes will be assessed on the
sales vaiue. The property owner can pay it because income
warrants it.
To reev,�luate a house on the basis of what it might
bring on a sale is illogical. That thinking contributed to
spa many vineyards' being reevaluated on the basis of what
they might bring on the subdivision market. Even though the
farmer wanted only to -Farm, this brought about many of those
vineyards' being uprooted and television antennae being
planteo in their places.
Ae once had a tax on i nventot /, That was based upon the
cost of the goods, not on what it might bring upon the sale.
If it never sold, the aF was still collected, albeit a bit
less than if it were ,old.
Long time residents Piave paid their taxes: for Schools,
(.policL-, fire 41ghter'S, parks, sewer systems, utility lines,
landscaping. T;tey'-,ie supported merchants, enter tairnents,
City growth, new 1oeas.
P, —.)L•1'- :,rl'L iv i3 r--1"; L.".� .-.�.r,:.^„3 `I F' ati CJ
lemonade sales to tAn114h 1!bJ-ar1es, Cooked s. uppers ror” the
'Cur." _.:GS. oC;t = ._..i�.�?�; "cJ' ".�.-, .. ...., _�� Cul an,
They have contributed their talents to Lodi's economy,
good image and good life style, which has attracted people to
our city.
Now their income is less than that needed to buy their
home originally. In many cases, less than would be needed to
rent the home. There is only one qualification for paying
taxes: pay up or lose your home.
If there is a retroactive imposition of taxes using pre -
Proposition 13 formulae or changing the tax structure as it
now stands, we will need a greater city, county and federal
tax upon tl.e present-day income producers in order to fund
the poor houses, convalescent homes, apartments and whatever
ease is needed fir housing homeless individuals.
Is that really preferable to .al lowing people to be
independent and to take care of themselves in their own homes
with the occasional nurse, if neces.ary, or the offspring
looking out for them? Or do we rel ly want all of these
people to be put into institutions so that a job market can
be created for the people to take care of then.; a building
market so that someone can put up apartments on the land they
were forced to 'Leave?
And will the tax -payers pay any less decause.of the
increase in the tax upon these older homes? Someone will
have to fund the projects, pay the help, provide the food,
medical and other at-,tentions,
You might say that the sale of the house will bring big
bucks and will support an elderly person for the rest of his
or her life. That is what people would helve us believe. But
with the life -expectancy rate going up all the time, more
money will have gone for rent, and the person will eventually
become destitute --the fear of which was the main reason for
buying a house in the first place.
It all seems a vicious plot:.
Young people need jobs, push out the elderly.
Homeless need homes, creata a tax structure that the
elderly cannot pay. Put them in institutions, and then
yot have -maty mouses.
But, will it be the real homeless Who get those houses?
No, they cannot afford them.
SG what is the gain?
The elderly have created some o -F the pr'obinm by creating
c?li l dreri, but Some G* tMG= e Sa,Tle -)II CJr e(_1 'lavC� OeCufre
politicians Who Want more and more ::OneV and viii' push out
the'' pare: -Its. R i_=. 0.. j d:_;.i'3 c, gr,eE'1'y'r T.heS3 'r,iYG
wo-t..sla charge the pr es e, nt *etroc c"' taxing ;hr:)me7 In Caliorni3,
N,ou.io have lit.tl�_ !'car �a:.. ,. ic?�' ...'.DSt5 0� tt'^.Se
1
.:!.•��l'Sti�>"Oi�N'A�... �..rY1G:.i ty..:s�WlN: �. '•vT +.. '.a�:::tx ;.w .-....._. .4 r.... .. �,, ..,.::t:+'.Y�.sys;^a`-,....,:..iy.. .. '¢'a,....., ..- .. ... ... .. _�-•. a_✓. .,, .. �a�'-. _ .. ..-..W'. ..-
Peace of mind should the nurtured and not snatched away
i n our later years. L e t us rest in our non -income producing
days. We nave whatever the good Lord and the Social Security
will allow. Not all elderly are rich. though the IRS will
try to tell us otherwise.
Mziny are divorced women. AFter years of providing a
home +or husband and children, they were abandoned. They have
become real survivors, have held ;obs, maintained a home and
reared their children.
Many are receiving the barest minimum in Social Security
payment. This alone allowino them to survive. Fart of that
survival is the security of owning their own horse. Actually
owning something that cannot be taken away. Being able to
have familiar belongings in familiar sur,oundings is great
comr'ort and good t;ierapy for the ili.
teeing forced into an institution takes away all self-
esteem. Alone, lost and abandoned, the individual fades,
gives up--suicideor death by sorrow, it's so easy to forget
that without- our fore -bearers, we wouldn't have Seen born.
Which is the greater cost -'-loss cf a Few dollars in
taxes or the imposition of millions in eat -e?
Many of those who manipulate our purse strings make sure
that they get their pot -tion First. But does i t ease the
conscience to see elderly folks die From cold because there
Js no money for heat, from starvation because there is no
money -For food, homeless because of no shelter?.
That wnicb 'vou do.1-o the least of `.hese, you have done
to Me.
Time is irreplaceable. it can �-,e filled productively,
grudgingly, hope+ally.
Trig r:.^.meles5 have a ui—Na-z'I 'y, �e��'t�al tirr.e.
We rust do Neat a:e are acle to do, and :rust . T+por tant of a i l -
wE must not :_mate any none. _ f%