It is hated by many on the right, but a necessary pain for many on the left. The property tax characterizes the election campaign in many Norwegian municipalities before the local elections on Monday. But what does it actually mean for homeowners? news has asked Høgre and the Labor Party in Bergen to point out their respective candidates for the local elections. How will the party’s promises about property tax work out for these two homeowners? – Willing to pay Both cages in terraced houses, in the districts of Årstad and Åsane in Bergen. The father of small children Sandrino Arenas Moya Birkeland is in 25th place on the electoral list for the Labor Party in Bergen. The family of Ap candidate Sandrino Arenas Moya Birkeland pays NOK 9,900 annually in property tax for Fageråsen 14B. The terraced house cost NOK 6 million. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news He and his family alone pay NOK 9,900 a year in property tax for a house worth well over NOK 6 million. – Yes, I will gladly pay it, he says. Karsten Henrik Henschien Sprenger is also a father of young children. He is in 27th place on Bergen Høgre’s election list. His family pays NOK 7,000 in property tax for the home, which cost around NOK 5 million. – I pay tax with pleasure, but I would prefer to avoid property tax. Preferably it was cut completely, but I understand that it has to happen in stages, says Sprenger. Father of small children and Høgre candidate Karsten Henrik Henschien Sprenger lives in Myrdalsvegen 150. The end-of-the-line house cost about NOK 5 million, and the family pays NOK 7,000 in property tax. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Wants to halve the municipality’s income In Bergen, Høgre is voting on halving the property tax over the next four years. However, this does not necessarily mean that everyone will pay half of what they pay today, Høgre can now say. What the party wants is to halve the municipality’s income from the tax. But Høgre cannot say what they will concretely do with fine deductions and tax rates. – Exactly how we do this, I do not want to go into now. But I promise that everyone who lives in Bergen will notice that Høgre will come to power. That’s according to Høgre’s top candidate, Christine B. Meyer. She will become city council leader in Bergen if the party receives support from a majority in the city council after the election on Monday. This they can save on Høgre’s promise The budget for the municipality to manage the city is over NOK 26 billion. Bergen currently requires 2.8 per thousand in property tax on residential buildings, with a tax deduction (“free amount”) of NOK 800,000. This gives the municipality NOK 721 million in income. news has looked at how these revenues can be halved. Figures from the municipality itself show that there are actually only a couple of relevant alternatives: To increase the fine deduction to NOK 900,000 and lower the tax rate to 1.5 per thousand, or To remove the entire fine deduction and cut the tax rate from 2.8 per thousand to 1 per thousand. These two “Higher alternatives” will give: Christine B. Meyer promises to halve property tax within four years if she becomes Bergen city council leader after the election on Monday. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Tax relief or free preschool? Such a tax break does not tempt Ap-Birkeland. He points out that his family would rather save around NOK 30,000 on the Labor Party’s promise of free after-school for 3rd graders. Father of small children and Høgre candidate Sprenger, on the other hand, believes that halving taxes is a good thing. – Both I and the rest of the country have had increased expenses in the past year. So getting NOK 3,500 less in property tax will be a nice sum to spend on other important things. He is not in favor of free preschool for all. – It is better with needs testing, believes Sprenger. Høgre candidate Karsten Sprenger believes that everyone will benefit from halving property tax. He himself then wants to save NOK 3,500. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Right: – Easy to cut But is it even possible to cut property tax? – There is no problem. There are many things we can cut back on. We can stop wasting, we can cut sick leave, we can make the municipality more efficient. We can cut many tasks without cutting the welfare offer, says Meyer in Høgre. This is rejected by city council leader Rune Bakervik from the Labor Party. – If we are to provide good services to the residents, we are dependent on the income that the property tax gives us. We cannot afford to cut the municipality’s income. In his election programme, Høgre wants the property tax to be completely gone in the long term, but Meyer moderates himself towards news. – We say that, and then there is the question of whether it is realistic when care for the elderly is growing so much. – Høgre has no control over the economy today, and they absolutely must not have access to either the municipal coffers or the management of the city, Bakervik believes. City councilor in Bergen, Rune Bakervik (Ap) wants to keep the municipality’s tax revenue, but wants to turn the property tax more towards those with the most expensive homes. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Ap will “take from the rich” In contrast to Høgre, the Labor Party promises to keep the municipality’s income from property tax unchanged. On the metropolitan broadcast from Bergen on news on Tuesday, he promised a “progressive and unchanged” property tax. But Labor is still considering taking more from those with expensive houses and giving tax relief to those with smaller homes. – Our aim is to make the property tax more socially fair, so that those with the cheapest houses pay less, and those with more expensive houses pay somewhat more. If we increase the bottom tax, we must also increase the tax percentage, in order to make this tax more even, if possible, says Bakervik. Challenger Meyer is skeptical. – Social equalization may sound nice, but I in Høgre wonder who will then get higher property tax, and how much higher. Are there students who have just bought a flat? Are there minimum pensioners? he asks. Bakervik does not know how Ap will change the tax for those who live cheaply or expensively. – This is a calculation that I have not been able to do. Until we have these arrangements in place, I will keep the property tax as it is today. We should not cut the services of the citizens of Bergen in order to cut income, as Høgre is choosing to do, claims Bakervik. This they can lose through redistribution. If Ap shifts the property tax more to those with expensive homes, but wants to keep the total amount around 720 million, they can, for example, increase the tax deduction to NOK 900,000 and the tax rate to 3 per thousand, or the tax deduction to NOK 1.2 million and the tax rate to 3.5 per thousand. Then the property tax increases as follows: NOK 400-1,000 for Birkeland (Ap) NOK 200-500 for Sprenger (H) Aurora (6) will be in the 3rd grade next year, and the father’s party will then promise free after-school education if the Labor Party retains city council power in Bergen. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news See news’s calculations here:
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The Labor candidate can save NOK 5,000 in taxes if Bergen Høgre cuts the property tax in half – news Vestland
