the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Sep 3, 2012
Washington, D.C. tax office supervisors were told to lower property assessments when big developers appealed their assessments. These settlements cut 2.6 billion dollars from 500 commercial properties so far this year. The assessment of downtown Gallery Place was lowered by 58 million dollars. Another developer got 25 million dollars knocked off of a dozen of his properties. “They’re just giving it away,” one city appraiser said.
With the lower assessments just for developers, the city agreed to lose 48 million dollars in property taxes.
This is one of the reasons the city has cut its homeless services funding by more than 12 million dollars since 2008, and last year cut welfare benefits by 20% for thousands of families. All this on top of cuts in medical, rehabilitative, and home care services for the elderly and disabled.
The city steals from the working poor, the elderly, the sick, and from children to give to wealthy developers.
Has anyone seen Robin Hood?