According to the Wall Street Journal, “Politicians all over the country are preparing legislation in response to angry homeowners who are demanding property tax rollbacks even as municipalities move to raise those same taxes.”
The WSJ goes on to state that “State government in New York, Georgia, Oklahoma and Wyoming are about to consider proposals in their 2009 sessions to put the brakes on property tax increases.”
State Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Buckhead) was quoted recently in the AJC as saying that “the current crisis sheds light on a flaw in the system — that assessments are a tax on an unrealized gain — an issue that draws some complaints when values are rising but seems just plain unfair when they tumble.”
Representative Lindsey also went on to point out “that current assessments have thousands of property owners looking at tax appraisals that are much higher than current market value. Thousands of long-term owners have also paid taxes for years on value they will never realize, he said. “It’s an issue of fairness,” Lindsey said. “This adds to the evidence of how unjust the system is. They have been paying property taxes on values they never actually saw.”
State Representative Larry O’Neal was quoted as saying that “people are just astounded that this year, of all years,” the assessed value “of their property has increased,” according to the WSJ.
Pingback: When Rising Property Taxes Need to Go the Opposite Direction … | my-home-renovation.com