Dear 'Natives', Please Consider the Issue Not Just from Your Family Budget Perspective: Varazdat Karapetyan

National Assembly member Varazdat Karapetyan wrote on his Facebook page:

Today, 'native Yerevan residents' have started an action on Facebook, protesting the new property tax regulations. Many respected individuals believe that the increase in property tax will lead to their impoverishment.

A few questions for the participants of this action:

• When you write 'native Yerevan resident', what do you mean? Which village are your parents or grandparents from?
• Are you aware that in border villages or towns, children often attend kindergartens that cost around 60,000 dram annually, while kindergartens in Yerevan are free?
• Do you know how much money the government allocates to the Yerevan community to maintain the center of the city in its current state? And are you aware of how much is allocated to the border village of Berd?
• Do you think 'native Yerevan residents' deserve any privileges over the native residents of Shamut or Khashtarak, or the people from Aygut?
• If a residence is in Azatamut or on Mashtots Avenue in Yerevan, do you think both should be taxed with the same amount? With the currently applied regulation, a property owner in Azatamut would pay around 5,000 dram annually, while the owner of a similarly sized apartment on Mashtots Avenue would pay 100,000 dram. Do you think this is an unfair approach?
• Can you imagine how much more money residents of Syunik spend just for their children to benefit from quality educational or healthcare services that, unfortunately, are concentrated in Yerevan?
• Are you informed that the state budget is limited and that we, the citizens, must pay for everything? And pay more if our living conditions are incomparably better than those of other citizens? This will create opportunities for roads in Berd to be repaired, for new equipment to be purchased for the Sisian hospital, and for the kindergarten in Berkaberd to be renovated, so that a child from Svran will have an opportunity to play the violin.
• If you, as natives, pay 80,000 dram in property tax for your 10 million dram car, why should you not pay a similar amount for your 100 million dram apartment?

Nevertheless, there is a significant issue. Many people living in downtown Yerevan received their apartments during the Soviet era and are now retirees or in poor social conditions. A solution to this problem is on the table. The community council can grant up to 10% exemptions from the total property tax they collect for vulnerable groups, thus reducing or even eliminating the tax amount for them. This way, the issues of elderly grandparents will be resolved, and they will continue to live in the neighborhood that feels so familiar to them, among their community and neighbors.

In all other cases, dear 'natives', please consider the issue not just from your family budget perspective.

P.S. Have you ever seen what the entrance of an apartment building looks like in the Vardenis village?