NV: "National property tax revolt predicted"

There's a tax revolt in Augusta County, Virginia.

It began when real estate assessments were mailed to residents the end of January 2009. Some farms and property were assessed at double and triple their previous values. Others went up 50% and more even though the average was supposed to be 28%.

Many questioned even a 28% increase at a time when the housing market had plunged and hundreds of local jobs were being lost. Many felt no one was listening ... others felt they were being patronized.

A national tax revolt? I can believe it. We're seeing it play out locally.

Today's Waynesboro News Virginian has an article by reporter Bob Stuart who writes in "National property rax revolt predicted: New York's 'modern Nostradamus' predicts collapse of economy:"

The Great Depression? That was a tropical depression compared to the hurricane about to blow through the American economy, says Gerald Celente, the acerbic Bronx-born prophet who has been called the modern Nostradamus.

The “political athiest” who runs the New York-based Trends Research Institute says 2009 is trending sharply downward, as in through the floor.

Celente predicts that the national economy will collapse this year and people will revolt over school and property taxes – uh oh – all leading to what he calls the Greatest Depression.

Who is this man?

Before dismissing him, consider Celente’s record: He correctly predicted the 1987 stock market crash, the fall of the Soviet Union and the current recession, among other things. Those calls have won him acclaim from a wide range of mainstream sources, from The Wall Street Journal to CNN.

Tying the national story with the local tax revolt, Mr. Stuart talked with Churchville lawyer Francis Chester who is behind petitions currently being circulated to Augusta County citizens calling on the Board of Supervisors to roll back property values to the 2005 level. He also talked with Supervisor Nancy Sorrells and Supervisor Wendell Coleman who still say the "process" needs to play itself out. Read the entire article here.

Background links to News Virginian articles and information here.