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Taxes are a function of municipal costs and the value of all properties. If they all go up equally in value and costs remain constant then your taxes should not increase


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In theory, you are correct. In practice, in a city or area with different valuations it may vary.

For example, in my city, 70% of households rent and half of those are in the hood. Bad neighborhood valuations are essentially a factor of Section 8 prevailing rent, and many properties fall off (as they stop meeting HUD standards) and get abandoned as they decay, because slumlords.

The effect is that in a good neighborhood, your pro rata share of the levy always climbs, even without an increase in value.


Great point. I wanted to point that out though because some people assume that there is a proportional relationship between property value and taxes.

In practice, though, that's not the case. In many jurisdictions you get yearly reassessments as to your home's value, and your taxes change to match that value. I don't think I've heard of a place where they decide to lower your taxes (or keep them the same) when your home value is reassessed higher, regardless of what's happening with municipal costs.

My property taxes have gone up 10% year over year and in 2 years my property taxes will surpass my mortgage.

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