When times were flush and Americans were refinancing their homes left and right, no one was bothered by high property tax bills. I mean, if your home increases in value 5-10% every year, you're not worried because you know when you sell the home you'll recoup thousands in profit to offset the amount paid in taxes.
Now, in a recession, everyone wants their property tax bill lowered. It makes sense. Home take longer to sell, they sell for less...homes should be valued for less. But, people forget about the lag. County governments only have the capacity to assess property once a year; your tax bill doesn't fluctuate monthly with the housing market and we wouldn't want it that way. We need stability, we just don't like it when it works against us.
Plus, there's the problem for local governments, which rely on property tax revenue to pay for schools, community colleges, hospitals and infrastructure projects. Despite the shortfall in revenue, you'll find few Americans that want local government to cut back on those expenses. We want it both ways and that's a bad attitude.
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