Coyote tells us what he is almost required to do as a campground manager:
I was navigating around the Kentucky property tax forms site (one of the really tedious tasks for our company this year is to fill out zillions of personal property tax forms listing virtually every pencil we own in any number of counties and states).
While we run campgrounds, we do not run long-term trailer parks, but this requirement caught my eye as fairly onerous. Apparently trailer park owners must fill out this form and report on the detailed description, owner, and address of every trailer renting space on their land, so that the state can come after these folks easier for property taxes on their personal property.
For those who may shrug their shoulders, this is not materially different than the owner of an apartment complex reporting on all the large assets his tenants own, or walking through his parking lot taking down car descriptions and tag numbers so the DMV can make sure there are no violations by any of his tenants.
I don’t like when the government forces me to be their busybody.
I would argue that it is against the 10 commandments to report on your neighbor; although it may not be a false witness, it isn’t different from gossip.
The Ten Commandments deal with private property, too. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
The tax collectors want to know what you own and what you will own, now that computer memory is cheap. The trick in Kentucky will be how to value those kettles and pipes in the woods making moonshine — provided that their neighbors are brave enough to report such property to the revenooers.