I am not a big fan of Eminent Domain, a system by which our city can forceable take your property or your home from you for the supposed overall improvement of the city as a whole, and pay you what they deem to be a fair price.
Politicians "in the know" have been known to buy property that they have prior knowledge of city/county planned improvements for the hidden agenda to profit from the eminent sale of the property to the city/county. So why can't long time legitimate owners profit in the same way from being forcably ousted from their home?
Personally, I think we should have to pay people three, four, or five times the assesed value for forcing someone to leave and give up their property to the city for improvement. I mean..HELLO...their home is not for sale, they didnt want to move. If they were happy with the assesed value, they would have their house on the market, right?
I think the right to own property is a right handed down through the ages and established by our founding fathers, a right that differintiates us from communist nations. If our governement is going to trample that right, then they ought to pay heftly for doing so - not just the "assesed value".
What's funny is, most of these people have been paying taxes on their property based upon a value much higher than the appriased value. Now the city is talking about having their property independantly appriased and paying the property owners based on that amount. Thats crazy! They dont want to move, that's gotta be worth something!
Quote:
The commission unanimously approved an ordinance allowing the city to take early steps on condemnation on contested pieces of property in the phase two area. Citing eminent domain, Finley said 11 property owners were refusing to sell their properties for the assessed values.
"Most of the problems come back to price," he said.
Finley said some property owners are also demanding overhauls of parking or entrances that far exceed what would be considered a fair asking price.
Eminent domain allows the government to take property owners to court, hire an independent appraiser to determine the cost of a property, then pay the owner the assessed price.
Finley said it was necessary to pass the ordinance if the city wanted to get the second phase of the reconstruction under way by the deadline.
"We don't like to do this," he said. "There is a bit of a bad taste in people's mouths when it comes to eminent domain."
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...and for good reason!
It cost a lot more to uproot and acquire another home than just the price of your property.