4 August 2026
Resolved - What can/should be done about rising property taxes?
The second and third vote-getters were very close, but the property tax issue had edged very slightly ahead as if this writing, so that’s our topic for today.
I had never thought about property taxes until we bought our first house in the Oregon woods. Unlike most mortgages we’ve had since, there was no escrow collected for property taxes…which left me looking in shock at how much we were supposed to pay the state. That was one of several reasons we sold it a few years later.
As property values have risen dramatically, long-time homeowners have been confronted with the disturbing reality of property taxes bills that far exceed anything they might have expected when they first bought that house. In fact, I’ve known people who had to move because they could not afford the property tax increases.
Some states are putting measures in place to try to prevent this from happening to elderly people who own their homes free and clear. But it has become a serious issue. And I’m not sure how to solve it.
What do you think?
It’s a real issue. My property taxes are a 1/3 of my monthly mortgage bill. And the town and state services seem to be getting worse, not better and the school always seems to need more money, not less. It’s infuriating since I know there’s money mismanagement that I am paying for. There’s now a big push by about 5 people in town to apply for a grant to do a study on how to add better bike lanes to our downtown. Which means once the “free” study is done, they’ll want it implemented for god knows how much money which will also require more money and personnel to clear snow from in the winter when we have pot holes in the road. Make it make sense. This issue just might be the one that breaks the camels back though for our town to stop saying yes to everything. I hope.
There’s something inherently wrong about property taxes. You, usually in partnership with a bank, own your home. Your house provides you security and is a physical manifestation of your labor and intelligence, since it took both to generate the income to purchase it. The town then swoops in and begins feeding on it. You often pay a conveyance tax and then have the privilege of ponying up thousands year after year. God forbid you want to improve the property with a renovation or by adding a pool. Here come the planning and permit folks.Does the government do that on anything else you own once you own it. (Here in CT, that would be yes, I know thanks to our car taxes.) My point is you don’t really own your property in the State’s eyes. It lets you hold a title, but it’s really theirs. The government claims taxes are needed to cover essential services. Fine, then call the taxes what they are: massive HOAs. Meanwhile, what’s essential? Roads, water, sewer, fire, police. That’s it. There are gray areas, although I think individuals should choose and pay for their kids’ schools ourselves. Social services? Frankly, they create more problems than they solve. But parks with swimming pools, band shells, and turf fields sitting right next door to schools with swimming pools, auditoriums, and turf fields? Fireworks displays? Pollinator gardens? Grant-funded studies to justify taking more of money to spend on things we want, not things we need? At the end of the day, majorities vote for mission creep every cycle. As long as that happens, nothing will change.