Audio By Carbonatix

Democratic and Republican office seekers are uniting, as they often do, around a terrible policy: exempting seniors from regular property taxes. The socialist Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, wants to freeze seniors’ annual payments so they may “age in place and with dignity.” Unfortunately, red states are leading the charge to enact his vision.

There is no economic rationale for special tax exemptions for seniors. They encourage no additional work or investment. Rather, they are advanced solely to buy support from America’s most prolific voting bloc.

No one likes to pay property taxes. But local governments and school boards require revenue to function, and property taxes are by far their largest source. Carving out seniors from the general tax code inevitably shifts the burden to other homeowners, such as younger families, who must contribute more to fund local services.

Senior tax exemptions compound a staggering generational theft from the young to the old through slanted government measures. Elderly Americans already receive federal retirement benefits, the generosity of which far exceeds what they paid in taxes or the payroll taxes paid by younger workers. On housing in particular, seniors have profited from soaring home values as new families increasingly feel locked out of the market. The average age of homebuyers has thus crept up to record highs.

Some seniors are poor and struggle to pay for housing. As a whole group, however, retirees are the wealthiest generation in the country. Many maintain high earnings in old age, and seniors lead the nation in homeownership rates. If policymakers are especially concerned about housing affordability for one group, it should not be older Americans.

As for keeping seniors in their current houses indefinitely, it is, of course, sad whenever an old family home is sold. Yet the turnover of old homes to new families as children move away has always been a part of the housing market. And, with home prices where they are, it is not as though retirees aren’t receiving good returns on most sales.

Exempting older homeowners from property tax may further tilt the housing market against young buyers struggling to find a foothold. Artificially low tax rates would be capitalized into higher home prices, as houses become more valuable to their current occupants. This would be yet another hidden subsidy from prospective buyers to existing owners.

If policymakers are set on property tax relief amid rising home values — a noble aim in theory — they should apply it generally. States have successfully restrained local spending through limits on annual growth, which can translate into lower taxes across the board. By contrast, shifting the burden of greater spending around through tax exemptions and gimmicks rewards some residents at the expense of others.

Property taxes ought to be as low as possible to cover essential services, but levied flatly and evenly as well. The more carve-outs in the tax base — such as for seniors — the higher the rate must be for others. No demographic group ought to receive special tax favors by virtue of its political clout, but especially not elderly homeowners whom the nation’s fiscal system already privileges.