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0 pointsbenaduggan2h ago0 comments

> What does this cover - garbage collection, what else?

That's the fun part, it doesn't even cover garbage!

Jokes aside, property tax in the US typically go towards safety net funding for your community. So a lot to schools, public safety, roads/infrastructure, etc. There are definitely some places where garbage is covered in that, but a lot of places garbage collection is privatized in the US.

Sometimes hearing about how much it costs to cut down trees makes me want to quit my job. I think a lot of that is probably for liability insurance though? Both for worker injury risk and for risk of property damage. It will cost a lot to fix a house that has a tree fall through it. But also since those are market rates, it's still a very good idea to ensure they have legit insurance. You are usually SOL if they don't.

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iamalizard2h ago

Interesting, I assumed most regular taxes (like another comment said - police, fire, schools) would be from income taxes or other taxes collected from businesses.

> but a lot of places garbage collection is privatized in the US.

Closed housing complexes, like the suburb ones with gates where you have HOAs and your own security? Or just random parts of a city?

I really kind of want to move to the US to cut down your trees now. I'd be willing to yolo it without injury insurance for a while if that's allowed. If I cut the trees from top to bottom there's very little risk for the house. But I guess the clients would expect me to have such insurance? The whole thing is kind of foreign to me, as if I was incapable of cutting down my own trees I'd just hire some company, likely a small one recommended to me by someone I know, and never question what kind of insurance they have or whether they're licensed or not.