Homeowners watching the value of their houses slowly ebb are storming tax offices from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Atlanta, demanding that county officials reassess their homes and lower their property taxes.
It is a question of fairness, says Gene Burleson of Atlanta, who stood in line April 1 to appeal his assessment. His house has lost 25 percent of its value since it was last assessed, he adds: "I'm just trying to insulate myself from coming tax increases."
Property taxes have become a rallying point for disgruntled Americans because, unlike sales or income taxes, they can be challenged directly by individual citizens: Some 40 percent of assessment appeals are successful. Yet the movement threatens already stressed counties, putting the tax receipts that pays for schools and police at risk. - ABC News Story
I have argued the same point repeatedly. In the economy of today when many people are finding themselves upside down in Mortgages and home values plummeting, how can we still be paying the same in property taxes or even worse have them go up?
As property values decline, so should the commitment to the government. What is worse in my community, as well as many others, we recently received a letter telling us that they are reassesing all the homes in the area and we can expect our bills to increase. The bill isn't increasing due to a raise in the taxes, they are raising our values. How can that be? Everyone in the world will tell you that the values are going down, except for the local government.
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