Soaring property values now turning into big tax bills
With home values surging since the pandemic, homeowners nationwide are now receiving new, bigger property tax bills as a result.
Scripps News
I never thought I would agree with Micah Beckwith on anything, but after reading Greg Bright’s column on property taxes, maybe I found some common ground with Beckwith.
Bright writes: “As home values go up, people who work in those professions require more money to live there. If a property tax is capped, those revenues would have to come from elsewhere — paid not by the homeowner, but by the community at large through a sales or income tax hike.”
To be clear, I would never advocate starving the government of revenue for public services. Quite the contrary. I just believe we should dramatically increase income taxes so we can place the burden for public services on the wealthy — where the burden belongs.
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s proposal to eliminate the state income tax was a horrendous idea. We should be soaking the rich in income taxes.
The property tax funding formula has been a disaster for parts of the state with low property values, leaving us with underfunded schools and streets in disrepair for those who don’t happen to live in affluent places like Carmel or Fishers.
It is naive to think that those of us who are renters do not share in the property tax burden charged to our landlords. It is passed on to us through increased rents.
Finally, the property value assessments that create tax formulas have a long history rooted in systemic racism, and they exacerbate inequality. I doubt Micah Beckwith cares, but I certainly do.
If I were to buy a home I could barely afford and then my home increased in value due to other factors in the neighborhood, I could lose my home due to property tax increases based on a higher assessed value. I would have no control over this. If I were taxed more on the capital gains income from selling my property, then that would be more justifiable.
So, I say, down with property taxes, and up with income taxes!
Daniel Dougan lives in Indianapolis.