Raising property values is not the problem with property taxes. The problem is there is never a corresponding decrease in the tax rate which is a government problem. The local government increases their budget for the windfall, then when property values decrease, they raise the tax rates to cover the shortfall. Never do they cut back on spending or attempt fiscal responsibility.

This is why my local school district spends more per student per year than it would cost to send that student to any Florida public college for a year including tuition, room and board, and all the BS fees. The public school spends almost three as much per student than the most expensive private school in my county.

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In Texas, a portion of the taxes freeze at 65 but you still have to pay taxes.

I wish my state did that.

In AR, your primary home's assessed value can be frozen at age 65. This means no tax increases due to further appreciation in assessed value.

But if your tax rate is increased, based on the city/county raising the millage rate, your taxes would still go up.


In addition, regardless of age, in AR tax increases on your primary residence based on reassessments are capped at 5% per year. So even if your home gains a ton of value between assessments, your taxes will only go up 5% the next year.

Which is good for people like me. My home gained +60% in value in a 4 year assessment period from 2020-2024. But my taxes only went up 5% for 2025. (And will go up 5% more in 2026, and 5% more in 2027, etc.)

But I'm still paying a fraction of what the actual assessed value would dictate. And at the rate my home value continues to climb, even the 5% annual increases will never catch up to its true assessed value, as that's only allowing +20% tax increase every 4 year assessment period, rather than the actual 60%. And it's gaining more than +5% a year still.

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Originally posted by trapper189:
Never do they cut back on spending or attempt fiscal responsibility.

No doubt.

Real estate taxes are particularly objectionable when one considers the reality that most people do not actually own the land under his property. Instead they hold a "fee simple" title where their rights are subordinate to the State's.

The way to actually own a piece of real property outright is known as "alloidial title." This is, basically, what Kings used to grant to Dukes, Barons, etc. Even then, they were not off the hook for supporting the controlling regime by providing food, soldiers, and money to the King.

So in reality, the Govt. is actually taxing its own property (but making you pay the tax to them) when they levy a property tax.

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I bring this up I'm mocked or ridiculed for being out of my mind. "How will the government fund road construction, fund education, pay for police or fire protection" I'm asked

Those who say that are either part of the government crime enterprise or their brainwashed sheep.

Here in Kentucky, we have an homestead exemption for folks 65+, which reduces the estimated value, from which the property tax is based upon, of your primary residence by about 10%.

My big gripe is that fully ONE-HALF of the tax I pay is for the “upkeep” of the public school system. I’ve never had kids, so therefore the public school system is irrelevant to me except for being taxed.

Jefferson County (Louisville) Public Schools (JCPS) is over $188 MILLION in the hole for its operating expenses. Over the past 10+ years, the former Superintendent of the JCPS said everything was fine, and always managed to get a bonus paid to him by the JCPS Board.

It was only after he “retired” and a new Superintendent was selected did any of these problems surface, especially after he said it was necessary to close/consolidate some of the schools. Naturally, the Democrat-affiliated teacher-controlled school board is all upset.

The Republican super majority State Legislature is going to be looking into this mess at the next session which starts in January.

https://www.wave3.com/2025/12/...cps-budget-problems/

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Originally posted by rainman64:
I am with Oddball.
Paying taxes on unrealized capital gains is insane and immoral.

Yes, and that's easy to accomplish.

All you have to do is eliminate reassessments. The house is only taxed based upon the value at the time of sale. Of course, you'd have to make adjustments for sales not at "arms length" or below market for some reason. But, basically, you eliminate or drastically reduce the role of the assessor.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:
In AR, your primary home's assessed value can be frozen at age 65. This means no tax increases due to further appreciation in assessed value.

The assessed value on my home went up and taxes increased a few hundred dollars. Not the end of the world by any stretch but I wasn't happy about it.

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Originally posted by 2BobTanner:
My big gripe is that fully ONE-HALF of the tax I pay is for the “upkeep” of the public school system. I’ve never had kids, so therefore the public school system is irrelevant to me except for being taxed.

That problem could be eliminated if we could convince people that education is the primary responsibility of parents... and that it should not be turned over to government entities called school districts.

How children are educated should be strictly up to the parents, and they should pay for it directly, not through taxes.

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Originally posted by 12131:

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I bring this up I'm mocked or ridiculed for being out of my mind. "How will the government fund road construction, fund education, pay for police or fire protection" I'm asked

Those who say that are either part of the government crime enterprise or their brainwashed sheep.

Exactly, the more they get the more they spend. There is rampant waste and until they are forced to stick to a budget that doesn't increase every year, they won't do it.

Schools today are overboard and should provide the minimum. I also shouldn't pay school taxes if I have no children in school or honeschool. Let the parents educate their own kids instead of the govt brainwashing them.

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Schools today are overboard and should provide the minimum. I also shouldn't pay school taxes if I have no children in school or homeschool. Let the parents educate their own kids instead of the govt brainwashing them.

Yep, see my post above yours.

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Originally posted by oddball:
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Houses are no different than cars, guns, watches, etc in rising prices throughout the years. Would I want my house to stay stagnant in value for years, decades? Nope. A house or commercial property is an investment, and I would want that investment to show some rise in value throughout time. To want stagnation is just plain silly.

Do you get taxed on the appreciating value of a Rolex or Patek every year? I don't care if my home value appreciates, I don't want to be taxed on a theoretical appraised value so the bloated govt can waste more of my money.

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Originally posted by chellim1:

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Originally posted by oddball:
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Houses are no different than cars, guns, watches, etc in rising prices throughout the years. Would I want my house to stay stagnant in value for years, decades? Nope. A house or commercial property is an investment, and I would want that investment to show some rise in value throughout time. To want stagnation is just plain silly.

I don't expect prices to rise for cars, guns, watches, etc. throughout the years. Why should they? Sure, if they are rare collector's items.
It's dollar devaluation, not that my guns have become more valuable over time.

Land is definitely a collector's item. Obviously, it all depends on where you live as to how much is available, but they're not making any more of it anywhere.

As for school taxes, if the tax base is healthy enough, you often get the break at 65. If the community is like many I know of, the school system will not have anywhere near enough money to operate if those 65+ don't pay school taxes. Retirement communities, tourist areas, rural areas that don't have industry, etc. Everyone has a vested interest in having decent schools. It will lead to lower crime, higher income, and an overall better civilization.

If the argument is the government should be out of the school business, altogether, well that's a whole other discussion.

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Originally posted by mrvmax:

Do you get taxed on the appreciating value of a Rolex or Patek every year? I don't care if my home value appreciates, I don't want to be taxed on a theoretical appraised value so the bloated govt can waste more of my money.

My exact point. I should have an appreciation in value of my house without government stealing money from me based on unrealized capital gains, just like a 1969 Porsche 911S, or a 30 yo Rolex Submariner. As others have stated, it is a crime that government does this to homeowners.

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If the argument is the government should be out of the school business, altogether, well that's a whole other discussion.

That's exactly my position.

Government does a horrible job, at the highest expense possible.

You don’t own anything in America. Your house paid off? Congratulations. If you don’t pay their blood tax on it, the sheriff will evict you, and all your shit, and sell the house and line their coffers with it. Same for a car, you have the title to. Drive it with expired registration, and get a ticket, and don’t pay the ticket, they’ll eventually impound it and sell it. So this taxation on citizens is a damn travesty. You don’t own anything in America sans your personal items. Property, land, and vehicles, all permanent taxation. I thought we left England for this reason and started a whole new country over it.

My property taxes, per month, are MORE than my mortgage. TX and their property tax rate needs heavy revision. What’s more insulting is the ISD portion as it is the largest portion of the property tax. Well I don’t have kids, so I don’t have kids in school. So there should be a statue of limitation on paying for that. Happy to have to pay the equivalent of my public school education. That’s 5-6 years old, to 18. So 13 years should be the limitation. Zero kids so I’ll pay that high ISD shit for 13 years as a payback. Let the people who have 3, 4, 5 kids pay all that madness. It’s not like they give you an over 65 years old deduction type thing if you don’t have kids. There should be some kind of financial balance between someone who has 3-4 kids in public school versus the person who has none. Today the tax rate is the same between both of those households.

It’s not sustainable for me and I will forced out of state in due time. I saw the writing on the wall many years ago and bought rural land 2.5 years ago because this is just getting unaffordable. I couldn’t afford to buy my current house today. Many people could not afford to buy their current home. So the only way this increase in value of your home pays off is if you move, and move to a less expensive area. In the meantime, you pay all the upkeep. Paying to fix this that and the other. Your property tax continues to go up. Your homeowners insurance continues to go up. A traditional home is a money pit.

This year alone, between the house, the yard, etc, maintenance and upkeep, I bet I’ve spent close to $10k. And full HVAC replacement is due in the next 2 years, another $10-14k. And in TX, well I’m paying $450 a month for homeowners insurance on top of incredibly high property tax. It’s just not sustainable long term. I’ve designed my next and permanent home already. Full metal building and I’m going industrial with everything. Cosmetics be damned. I’m engineering for long term sustainability and upkeep. Foo Foo cosmetics be damned. I’m tired of being a slave to home ownership. The taxes, the insurance, and the upkeep is killing me financially.

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Originally posted by chellim1:
All you have to do is eliminate reassessments. The house is only taxed based upon the value at the time of sale. Of course, you'd have to make adjustments for sales not at "arms length" or below market for some reason. But, basically, you eliminate or drastically reduce the role of the assessor.

My proposal is something akin to a sales tax. Pay some percentage of the final contract price. Pay it at closing. Just once. That's for a primary residence. However long you live there you never pay any form of property tax. That way the government can never take your home for non-payment of a tax.

For most people, the cost would be rolled into their mortgage payment, and should add up to the same total as it does now, just that it is principal, interest, and insurance. No "T" of PITA. Yes, the downside is people would be upside down in the loan if they didn't put up much of a downpayment. But it would also make the local government much more responsive to keep the home sales tax rate low.

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Originally posted by mrvmax:

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Originally posted by oddball:

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Originally posted by mrvmax:

Do you get taxed on the appreciating value of a Rolex or Patek every year? I don't care if my home value appreciates, I don't want to be taxed on a theoretical appraised value so the bloated govt can waste more of my money.

My exact point. I should have an appreciation in value of my house without government stealing money from me based on unrealized capital gains, just like a 1969 Porsche 911S, or a 30 yo Rolex Submariner. As others have stated, it is a crime that government does this to homeowners.

I misunderstood you, thanks for clarifying.

The usual counter to people complaining about school taxes is that education is a public good and we all benefit from an educated workforce, and beyond that an educated citizenry.

Sadly, it seems that government controlled education has become a public bad. In many cases, students come out of the “education” system in worse shape than they went in.

On an individual basis, the correct choice is clearly to be responsible for your own children’s education, whether you home school, send them to (and pay for on top of the school taxes you are already paying) a private school of your choice, or participate in a hybrid model (part private school classroom, part home school). In any case, the parent(s) must accept responsibility for their child’s education.