Property tax issues continue to fester

Shut up and pay your taxes.
That’s what the state is technically saying to the taxpayers that live within its borders—not in so many words—but is essentially what the state says to its taxpayers over and over, every time there is a movement to do something—anything regarding the continuing spike in property valuations, and in turn, property tax costs.
Such was the case last week when the Senate Bill being championed by among others, the District 30 legislative contingent, was defeated in a Senate floor vote. The legislation would have sent property valuations back to 2020 levels and put a cap on how much an assessment can raise each year. Then, if the day came the person decided to sell, the purchaser pays property taxes on the amount they purchased the house for. It seemed fair to us.
One day after it barely escaped committee it was dead and buried. We’d love to say we are surprised, but we aren’t. When it comes to property taxes, nobody at the state level seems to be doing much of anything except collecting that money. We are supposed to just sit back and take it. Or move somewhere else. They aren’t really interested in hearing about how we are being taxed out of our homes. It always falls on deaf ears.
A variety of entities lined up to testify against the bill, saying the bill won’t do much of anything except shift the property-tax burden somewhere else. Well, the property-tax burden is already being shifted, squarely onto the people who live in residential areas. As valuations continue to skyrocket, there are plenty of people who through no fault of their own have to pay taxes on what their respective county believes their homes to be worth. It’s not actually worth that much until a homeowner pulls the trigger on a sale, but that doesn’t stop the state from taxing us at what it believes it to be worth. A parade of lobbyists from local governments, schools, etc., all lined up to testify against the bill. Why? All these entities want to be sure they get their money. But, who is to say they still won’t if some common sense property-tax legislation is passed. We have to try something. Just continuing to double someone’s property-tax burden every four years isn’t going to be sustainable. Some people’s assessments are rising even more quickly.
Where is all this extra money going? Entities can only raise their budget but so much. When someone has their property taxes rise 20 percent, where does all that money go? Our state needs to be more sympathetic to people being taxed off their property. We call on them to do more instead of just sticking their heads in the sand.