My property value went up 50%, and my taxes...went down???

Like most homeowners in the Valley of the Sun, the value of my home has increased significantly in the past few years. And yet when I got my property tax bill this year, my taxes actually went down. Yet there are some folks out there right now trying to scare folks into believing that their property taxes are going to go through the roof because of the appreciation the past few years in the real estate market. As a result, they are trying to put an initiative on the ballot that they claim will lower your property taxes, but it may just bankrupt your local schools. Now what would that do to your property values?

So why not be concerned about property taxes? First, the real estate market here slowed down more than a year ago and is still going down, so if you haven't noticed an increase in your property taxes yet due to increased valuation, you probably won't. Secondly, the main reason your property taxes don't automatically go up when your property value does in Arizona is because we already have strict laws to keep your property taxes low. Any of you who have owned a home in virtually any other state know how low our property taxes are. For starters, the state of Arizona does not even levy a property tax. Then, the state actually pays a portion of your local school district property tax for you. And local taxing authorities, be they schools, cities, or counties, have a legal limit that their revenue can rise in any given year. Anything beyond that limit requires a public vote of your school board, city council, etc. And while I don't imagine many of my readers are seniors on fixed income, in the odd chance that you are, you can have your property value frozen through your county assessor.

So if someone asks you to sign a petition to reduce property taxes, don't sign!