Is that guy just for texas? How do we f8ght up here in new england…we know they are doing it…
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Stop the presses.
Zillion dollar question…
In what way does this goal seeked data feed the algos that power redfin, zillow, et al ?
You will own nothing (due to be overvalued and over taxed)…
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But I think they will let a few fish lower their appraised value because they are lazy bureaucrats.
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This scheme resembles to a degree the tax farming system used by ancient Rome (and probably other civilisations also) whereby the state contracted out to individuals the right and responsibility to collect taxes. The state set the amounts to collect; the tax farmer had to meet those, but then anything he collected over and above them was his to keep. And he had the force of the empire behind him. Some made themselves obscenely rich.
You can read echoes of this system in the New Testament, where the people called publicans were the tax collectors, working against their own people on behalf of the occupying empire. They were loathed and detested, viewed as traitors.
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Sounds like Matthew to me.
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I’ve always had a problem with the rates being based on the property value. Water rates are a service we use and we pay it. Council rates are what exactly? Don’t forget the bin collection fee is a separate line item, and the pot holes rarely go away.
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It is less risky & more lucrative to steal a few dollars each from thousands of people than to steal a thousand$ each from a few people. Why? Most people will NOT notice a few dollars or make the effort to recover a few dollars. In contrast, most people will strive to recover a thousand $ each. Your community’s property tax authorities have figured this out. My condolences.
In my case, $2000,000+ (LITERALLY) separates the wrong assessed property values from the appropriate values. That exposes me to a few thousand $ in excess property taxes each year. Avoiding a few thou$and each year is worth a few hours of my time and effort. The town tax collector capitulates to my appeals because the town’s “mistakes” are obvious & humiliating. FYI, because every “mistake” has favored the town by such a large amount, and because the town repeatedly exaggerates the assessed value and related property tax payment, one can reasonably suspect the “mistakes” are driven by revenge and greed.
One more point: My predicament is suffered by others who own large nearby tracts. Their property tax assessors chronically misclassify the properties–despite being told repeatedly and supplied with supporting documentation what the correct classifications are. The properties are ALWAYS “upgraded” (i.e., MUCH more valuable per acre).
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Exactly.
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West coast is gone, but since we are the pilot you know its coming east to a theater near you…
Real life example Washington state… useless raw land unbuildable cliff along side road … I bought at county auction “had a unique use for it”…assessed at $900… bought for $1400… 1st year taxes $14… 2 years later county got into $ budget trouble… so they “reassessed” all property in county… my neighbors 600sqft 60s house 60,000 assessed house overnight went to 180,000…his taxes went from $2,000 to $6,000…my “unbuildable ditch” went from “$900- to $38000” keep in mind you can’t even stand on it much less build , so taxes went to $480 up 3400%… did $480 break me?, no but tax rate was roughly 50% of value they had 2 years before… and i could MAYBE sell it now with inflation for 5k best case …40k is total BS… but if they get broke again and apply that % to my neighbors house… he will be paying $68,000 a year tax on a house that he paid $60,000… well actually he won’t he doesn’t make that… so the county will take it…
I got a friend in California 70’s 1200sqft house taxes ~18k… she has bay area horror stories of 70’s 2 million $ assessed tear downs…
Oregon my house taxes went from a super high 7k then to 14k and now another progressive taxes voted in add another 7k for equity taxes for the " homeless, poor renter assistance and free childcare" yep you did the math right 21k… we can’t keep up anymore… my wife has to work a job just for property taxes, forget my attempts at red pilling that one finally convinced her we need to sell and get out of dodge
now imagine if that original 7k got hit by the same 34x increase?..~238k?!.. they can’t do that !.. well they already did on my scrap land ? so why not and they are already 10% there…and so who could pay that? millionaires only and not for long…
heard some states like nebraska “forgive taxes for those over 62” some rural counties here have 33% to 66% reduction for low income retirees… one new law proposed here to “freeze taxes for elderly in their residence 62+ but not yet passed”
also here on the PNW exclusive forest zone has a ridiculous low tax rate like $2 per hundred acres… since
https://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ owns most of the forest here… I have an unproved hypothesis years back somebody lobbied tax laws to keep the billionares billionarey so a zoning game is being played too
and guess what “bohemian grove” is property tax forgiven because it a “fraternity” like churches so there is another avenue to explore… these billon$ A holes always play by a different set of rules… makes sense to figure out how use their own system against em…
maybe another "great taking "or “great protecting” potential here? it might make sense to spend some calories identify states or counties… with freeze, reduction, or forgive laws for low income elderly and make a string… favorable zoning and legal status “fraternity/religous” etc… you know these jerks are going to leave themselves an out to keep their sh!t and pay nothing to do it…
so “you’ll own nothing and be happy” now you know how they are going to do it… soldiers don’t need to show up at your door to take it by executive order and emit domain… they just spend and spend and print and print until you can’t keep up and they will legally take it…and then auction it off at the counties steps to blackrock, rent it back to a dozen immigrants who split the bill 12 ways with government assistance and they will show up and move in and throw you out whether you like it or not…
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1/2 cent stealing in superman
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This is an issue where I live. Two of my rentals are in the small townships and property taxes doubled year before last.
The two in the outlying counties were reassessed to a more reasonable value.
One bit of agricultural land had its assessment doubled. I went to GIS and printed out the various Flood layers on the map and printed them then attached them to my appeal which was successful.
Thing is, I might be able to sell the houses for the assessed value, however a doubling in a single year is harsh. I know folks with lake front properties whose property taxes were tripled. Now in their 80’s or 90’s and having been retired for decades with near zero interest rates and two stock market crashes their incomes don’t keep pace.
I sometimes wonder if black rock paid assessors to keep things level for a decade then double or triple things so all the elderly would try to sell at once.
So property tax increases that are not capped to a certain percentage per year are a risk factor for old age and retirement.
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I wonder if the issue of property tax essentially being a tax on unrealized gains will go up to the Supreme Court.
That’s perhaps the only way how this could be stopped.
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Interesting point! it certainly is a tax on unrealized gains. A bit of an aside from almost 30 yrs ago now but when my wife’s uncle died he had some property in Hawaii that the IRS was adamant about including into the value of his estate - not the Net Present Value but the Future Value - they finally backed off & excepted the appraised NPV but that was an eye opener.
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In Australia the valuing of land is a state-level function. In NSW for instance the Valuer General determines the value of land, and every 3 years provides a Notice of Valuation to property owners. Rates are set according to this value. These valuations can be challenged. I have never needed to, so I have no idea how successful they are.
I’ve never really understood the philosophy of land valuation. At uni back in the 1970s I asked my lecturer in this topic about how it works, and didn’t understand his explanation. Fifty years later I still don’t. I must be slow.
Land is valued not according to what IS on it (unimproved capital value, UCV), but what COULD be on it in relationship to the surrounding land uses. This is especially useful in CBDs: say you own a vacant block of land with skyscrapers all around. Your rates would be assessed as if you had a skyscraper on your land also. The net effect is that the consequent rates bill forces land owners to “develop” their land to the maximum extent permissible. Great for keeping property values up and the rates revenues flowing.
But why? Cities here have plenty of examples of parks in CBDs (e.g. Hyde Park in Sydney) which could have astronomical rates owing to the adjacent skyscrapers, but don’t because the park is owned by the government and zoned as public open space. I don’t see why we couldn’t set UCV and rates acording to other town planning principles and metrics.
In the end, it all seems to be about forcing growth and ultimately over-development.
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Seems like an implosion happens whether the courts intervene or not, just a question of the Richter scale of the quake.
Would think as soon as the fraud is exposed at scale, with collapse all around, people will stop paying property taxes.
Nothing can stop that from happening. When you owe the bank 10k and can’t pay, you’re in trouble. When 30% of the population owes and can’t
or won’t pay, the bank is in trouble. The bank here is the local municipalities and school boards. Sounds like a huge reordering of local education resources as a byproduct.
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One could imagine if Municipal bonds start failing as suggested, U.S. Treasuries might benefit. Of course, if your civilization and economy is failing, that may not work. Gold? But if that’s the last refuge, and most paper is shunned, that’s terrible times.
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I’ve heard this guy making the podcast rounds. I’m sympathetic to his argument. However, where is the evidence of people unable to pay the taxes? Where’s the evidence of people losing their homes because of a $3000-6000 property tax bill?
Until I see that evidence, I’m not convinced this problem is so big that he’ll make a dent in the system through legal means. The system will throw everything at him and bleed him dry financially (even if he’s in the right).
Now with that said, I’m not in the market for muni-bonds 
I have had three thoughts while watching this:
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Let’s say it is proven that the values are overstated and the Counties can be forced to correct this. What keeps them from simply raising the millage rate, to get to the same tax revenue?
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If all property values are overstated by the same fictitious percentage, would it still be arbitrary and capricious / fraudulent or merely a way to calculate taxes without showing an increased millage rate?
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My experience (here in Florida) has been that the hyper inflated home prices end up increasing the property taxes and that the assessed tax value is significantly lower than the sales prices.
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I know there are signs, but I want to see the hard recorded examples of people losing their homes from not paying property taxes.
Also, I’m all about eliminating property tax, but if someone can’t float a few grand a year after they’ve already paid off the mortgage, they maybe shouldn’t have gotten into home ownership in the first place because it was “too expensive.”
I’m applying the Dave Ramsey logic as the devil’s advocate that we would have to overcome to win this fight. It’s going to be a very very hard wall to climb to wake the normies up.
Again I agree with the issue, but it’s hard to wake the normies up who categorically accept legalized theft.
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