Property Tax and forts

A month ago, we had a discussion on property tax. I'm not sure how this all originated.  Maybe the lengthy discussions Aaron and I had been having the past week were rubbing off on the kids.  Or maybe we were more willing to engage in an actual conversation with the kids (instead of a "Hmm, that's something to think about" standard answer) because of the other property tax business we've had going on.  This may be another Chicken or the Egg unanswered questions.  But anyway--tonight's conversation went something like this: 

Gideon: Dad, how much does some land cost?
Dad: What kind of land?
Gideon: Well, I was wondering about the land that Philip's  house was on.  How much would it cost to buy the outline of the house?
Dad: You mean the foundation?
Joseph: Yeah, that's what he means.
Dad does some calculating--based on a lot price of $27,000, divided by a house size of 1000 square feet--comes up with 62 cents a square foot.  

Gideon: So that would be $620 dollars.  Huh.
Dad: But then you have to pay property tax on that.
Gideon: What's property tax?

Longer discussion on what property tax is---the how and why and where the money goes.  

After which Gideon calls Grandpa Melvin
Gideon: Grandpa, I was wondering how much you would charge me to rent the outline of the Philip's house.
Grandpa: What for?
Gideon: well, I want to build a fort.
Grandpa: Why don't you just build a real house? 
Gideon : Well, I don't have that kind of money.
Grandpa: How much money do you have?
Gideon: About fifty dollars.
Grandpa: Well, that's not quite enough for what you need is it.
Gideon: what kind of a deal do you think you could make me?
Grandpa: Tell you what, I got you a deal. How 'bout you rent the top of the log cabin.


There you have it--a solution to all our problems.  That log structure is coming along, I'll have you know! We've had all sorts of free labor--mostly a nurse anesthetist, a doctor, and the school district superintendant.  Nice!  We feel so loved. My neighbor asked me the other day, "So, how's the fort coming along? That's what we call it!" See, even the neighbors are on Gideon's side. Amazing. I'll post pictures as soon as I get some :-)