FT, your words like a breath of fresh air of Common Sense. Agreed. We could certainly use the same in-your-face DOGE technique at the state and county levels. And once we get off this “everything needs to come from the property owner” mindset, the better off everyone will be – since we will start minding our pennies again, instead of slinging away our dollars.
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How about a federal mandate to abolish property tax across all states?
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Yes please! It makes absolutely no sense that you have to pay a tax on something you already ‘own’ or it gets taken away. What kind of logic is that? That’s not ownership that’s rental.
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Taxes should go bye bye. but being taxed multiple times on the same dollar is criminal. So yes, property taxes should never have happened .
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I Pay double that. Seniors shouldn’t have to pay school taxes either once the kids are grown and out of the house and there are some seniors who don’t have children. We never really get to own anything we buy a house the bank owns it we pay it off but we have to pay taxes so we never truly own anything. It’s a disgrace. The system is rigged against us so we can never break even. Just struggle to about maintain what you have as you fall further and further behind as the years go by. Social Security does not keep up with inflation and the 401(k) saved all the years from working is worth less and less. you are forced to sell it off to pay required minimum distribution on a failing investment. The only winners are the government and the banks. The government at every level is one big criminal enterprise. Hoping President Trump makes some real progress regarding seniors in our country. We are drowning.
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As it currently stands, you never really own your house! I 100% agree all property taxes should end in all 50 states
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Taxes for roads maybe-(which All need fixing) or have state taxes for them!
no more for schools and property
Indeed, and that is what can be done if we are a wealthy nation AND WE ARE. Just wait and see.
I agree with you 100%. I have worked three jobs most of my life, raised my boys and took college classes every chance I had, which wasn’t enough since I had to pay for it myself. I was determined to get ahead. Finally after my divorce, we lost our house and I continued to work 24/7 most of the time as a live-in caregiver and managed to buy a small house on my own. I lived there and made repairs and upgrades for 8 1/2 years. I sold in 2021 and made a profit so I bought myself a manufactured home out of the city thinking it would be more affordable for me until I realized the lot rent goes up about $50 every year along with paying a pass on tax monthly and an annual tax. Although they aren’t real high it still adds up with the ever increasing lot rent which should pay for the taxes and is going to eventually be up to $1,095 per month. Since I have worked 2-3 jobs independently I don’t have a retirement plan. I am almost to the point where I can no longer work, I have been taking care of my ex free of charge since he has major health issues and no money. I let him stay in my spare room so he pays a little each month but I don’t know what I will do when he is gone. These senior communities are suppose to be affordable and safe, not all of us have money. This is a long opinion, sorry. I want to figure out how to put this in a shorter text and put it up for voting.
In my opinion property taxes (at the very least on a person’s primary home, but it should apply to all real property) should be eliminated completely. The primary reason is because a family should not be at risk of losing their property that they have purchased due to an inability to pay the taxes. I have several observations about property taxes, which are the following, keeping in mind that laws governing property taxes vary from state to state, and I am only addressing those of the state of Texas, since those are the one with which I am familiar:
• Placing a tax on real property is unconstitutional.
The “Takings Clause” of 5th amendment of the constitution bars the taking of a person’s property without due process, and without just compensation. This clause to the amendment states, No person shall “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
This establishes that if a government seizes real property, then the owner from whom the property is seized should receive just compensation for the property. In other words, the government seizing the property should be compelled to pay full market value of the property.
• Property is often sold at below appraised value in a tax sale.
The property taxes are based on the appraised value of the property. And a second part of this is the fact that a property’s true value is what the property sells for, not what an appraiser thinks the property value should be.
When a property is sold at below appraised value couldn’t we make the argument that the true value of the property is what the purchaser was willing to pay for the property? Since the true value of the property has now been established to be lower than the appraised value. Couldn’t the argument be made that the county was basing the tax rate on an inflated value, thus making the predicate for seizure of the property unjustified, since the tax amount should have been lower that what was being demanded by the county?
• An improvement to the property causes an increase in the value of the property raising the amount of taxes the county can assess on the property.
Suppose I build a deck in my back yard. Based on this improvement, the county will now revalue the property, resulting in an increase in my property taxes.
What was it about me building a deck, on my own property, increases the county’s expenses? In other words, how would the county have paid their bills had I made the decision not to build a deck?
• As others have stated in this thread, taxing based on the perceived value of a property is a tax on unrealized capital gains.
If property taxes continue (which I hope they don’t), they should continue only based on the value of the property at the time of purchase. When a property is sold it is valued at the sell price, and that is the value that the county uses to assess future taxes on that property until it sold again. The property value used should be without regard to any improvements made to the property. Even if I purchase unimproved property the tax base for that property remains at the unimproved value until the property is sold.
My rationale is this: the county did nothing to contribute to the improvement of the property, they didn’t pitch in to buy materials, they didn’t send workers to help with construction, they didn’t put any of their resources at risk to make the improvements, so why should they derive any benefit from it?