William Marvel: The Tyranny of the Entitled Millennial

Some Conway homeowners may not yet comprehend the full financial impact of their latest tax bill because of semiannual billing. That insidious practice saves us interest on tax-anticipation notes, but it encourages excessive spending through the illusion of cutting the cost in half. Having July’s $1,800 tax bill leap to $2,500 in December will strike the shortsighted or inattentive as less onerous than realizing that their annual tax has ballooned from $3,600 to $5,000 in one leap — in addition to all other household expenses. For those whose homes have long since been paid off, and whose incomes are shrinking, Conway’s property tax now exceeds any mortgage most of them ever faced, just for the privilege of keeping the homes many of them struggled to pay for.

Conway’s increasingly crushing tax burden results mainly from the influx of wealthy refugees from the Megalopolis to our south. Their influence is abundantly evident in the recent revaluation, which was based on a handful of homes lately sold at absurd prices to well-heeled fugitives from blue-state extravagance and oppressive pandemic policy.