Libertarian Librarian

No point or anything here, just an interesting observation. During the course of researching for a book I'm working on, I noted that in 1864 the taxes (state and local) on a 40 acre farm (house, barn, the works) in the area where I live were around $20 a year. Last year, I paid about $2300 on my house and 3/4 of an acre of land. So I paid 115 times as much for less than a tenth of the land.

I have no idea what $20 in 1864 compares to in 2006 dollars, but I just found the difference fascinating. And if you don't, you're a ninny, so there.

UPDATE: According to this web page (and I have no idea if it's accurate), $20 in 1864 is worth about $300 today. Do you think if I sent in $300 for my taxes that the state would mind?

Labels: Politics