Shafted

In November I got a cryptic letter from the Comune di Roma about a new property tax revision law. Since I have a hard time understanding bureaucratic Italian language, I had my accountant look it over... Apparently, the city of Rome decided it was time to review the status of certain buildings that had been classified as low-income housing (case popolari) many, many years ago but were no longer in any way, shape, or form, low-income homes. This inevitably meant the property tax would be increased- which seemed legit to me because many apartments in places like Campo dei Fiori, Monti, Trastevere were once low-incomes homes, but as we all know, nowadays they're inhabited by people who are well-off.

So it seemed fair to me for the city to increase the property tax (which is called ICI here). Plus, property tax in Italy ridiculously low compared to other big cities. I pay something like 200 euro a year in property taxes here, whereas in NYC I'd surely pay about $1,400 for a place like mine.

Being the stickler that I am, I immediately followed the procedures listed in the letter even though there was talk of a possible extension of the deadline from November to March. A law's a law, so I figured I'd get it out of the way instead of waiting. The whole process took about two weeks and cost me 600 euro plus I had to pay the difference between my old tax and my newly revised tax for the past 5 years. As painful as it was, I did it because I strongly believe in obeying the law and paying taxes- if we don't pay our taxes the city can't function, it's as simple as that. Duh!

Enter the new Berlusconi/Allemano government. With promises of abolishing property tax, they manage to sway the people. Now I'm sitting here thinking "Not only did I spend 600 euro to abide by this law, but I also back paid for 5 year's worth of undervalued property tax... and NOW they want to abolish property tax all together?!?!?".

What pisses me off even more is that people fall for this trick. HELLO- if they abolish the property tax, they're just going to have to find another way to get that money from us. The city's already in debt, there's no way they can cut that tax and still function. Property tax is a normal part of life, why don't Italians understand that?? Can you name one city that doesn't have property tax??

I'm amazed that people can be so stupid and easily conned. And I'm also annoyed that those of us who choose to follow the law in this country always end up getting shafted. Maybe I should ask the city to reimburse me for the money I spent to abide by the law?!? Hahhahha, fat chance.

I might have to call Le Iene about this one!

The joys of efficiency

I'm working in NYC for a few months on a gig and the general efficiency in the workplace here has blown me away. For example: every Friday morning my paycheck is on my desk by the time I arrive at work. No ifs, ands, or buts involved...
But wait, there's more! The office was going to be closed from December 24th- January 1st for the holidays so instead of making us wait until January 4th for our paycheck from the week before, we got double checks on December 21st.
WOW. I'm liking this!

Money

During the past few weeks I've found myself discussing this topic with coworkers and friends alike. I suppose it all stems from the fact that I've scored a sweet short-term job in NYC this winter, and by sweet I mean it pays well.
I was playing around with the numbers, adding, multiplying, and dividing and couldn't help but notice: 1/4 of my monthly salary would cover rent, and the rest was mine to pay bills, to buy food, to put in the bank, or whatever. That's the way it should be. In fact, there's a general rule of thumb that says at max, 1/3 of your salary should go toward rent.
Try applying that formula to current Italian salaries and you'll fall off your chair. Let's say the average Italian makes something like 1,800 euro a month (I'm being rather generous here), 1/3 of that would be 594... there's no way in hell you can find an apartment, let alone a decent room to rent in Rome for that price! If you want to live in central Rome you'd have to fork out at least 1,000 euro- which leaves you with 800 to spend on bills and whatnot, and nothing to stash away in the bank. The equation is completely off balance for Roman standards. You'd have to earn 4,000 euro a month in order to be able to apply this rent formula. And from what I know, very few people have the luxury of making that kind of money.
Now let's think back to the days of the good ol' lira, this equation was actually applicable, or at least it was for me and most of the people I know. We actually earned enough to be able to pay rent and bills, and then save some money. Didn't we?
I had dinner with some friends and their friends visiting from Amsterdam and we ended up talking about Rome and the state of things. They were blown away by how pricey Rome was, and they were even more blow away when they discovered what the average Roman earned! Even in the center of Amsterdam, rent isn't nearly as outrageous as it is here YET they earn more than we do on average.
Something has gone terribly wrong here...