Voters in eight U.S. states passed measures in the last election to offer some form of relief on property taxes, a sign of their mounting frustration with tax bills that have soared alongside huge jumps in home values. Many states will have property tax questions on the ballot this month as property owners are pissed that taxes are jumping considerably faster than inflation and they are voting with their wallet. In the last election Georgia led the pack with a new constitutional amendment on property taxes. Will other states follow Georgia’s lead this election?
What happened on election day regarding property taxes?
8 states passed some form of property tax relief in this past election. The property tax measures run the gamut from Wyoming that allowed different types of property tax assessments basically paving the way for different taxation rates for example owner occupied vs non owner occupied or commercial to Colorado which expanded tax exemptions for veterans. Long and short, property taxes were front and center in this last election cycle and this trend looks to only continue or possibly accelerate.
What happened in GA on property taxes?
In 2024, the most impactful measure was in Georgia, which caps tax assessment changes for current homeowners at an annual inflation rate, rather than at its real market value. Home prices have increased more than 60% in Georgia over the last five years, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. Under the new measure property assessments can only increase based on inflation. For example, if the inflation rate is 3% in 2025, that is the max the assessment can increase as opposed to the market which could be much higher.
In Georgia, once a house is sold, a new owner will pay a higher property tax based on the property’s real market value.
New Georgia law alters the real estate market
We have seen in CA which has a similar law that by implementing a property tax cap for existing property owners creates a huge lock in effect which ultimately reduces supply. As we can see in cities throughout California, long time property owners are paying substantially less in property taxes each year than new buyers.
Why the huge focus on property taxes now?
The rise in anti-property tax sentiment is reminiscent of the 1970s and early ’80s, when homeowners protested rising inflation at the ballot box in states including California and Massachusetts. Last year, Texas passed an $18 billion property tax cut, the largest such cut in the state’s history, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said at the time.
Looking at the chart above, it should be no surprise that the conversation has now turned to property taxes. In the last 4 years property taxes have surged almost 30% on average across the country as values have increased substantially. This has led to mounting frustration.
“Voters across the country are upset with rising property tax burdens and they have made that known to lawmakers,” said Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank.
Will other states follow Georgia’s lead?
Georgia is considered a swing state so I would assume other states would take notice especially more republican leaning states. Georgia signifies the beginning of a much broader conversation on taxes in states throughout the country.
Summary
The debate over property taxes is coming to a head as values have soared and local and state governments have continued to rake in record property tax revenue. The increases in property taxes has been 3-4 times the rate of inflation and constituents are frustrated with the rising costs. Take Georgia for example, on average assessments have gone up over 60% the last 4 years. This is an insane amount of increase in property tax revenue for local districts and this frustration spilled into the ballot boxes this past year.
With the ever increasing costs of living, we are entering a period where taxpayers are tired of funding increasing larger government and the bill in GA is a nail in the coffin to limit run away government spending. Look for property taxes to continue to be a hot button issue in upcoming elections and GA will be used as a model to slow the growth of taxes and in turn local governments.
Additional Reading/Resources
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/property-taxes-ballot-measures-election-1ea01b1b?mod=mhp
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Glen Weinberg personally writes these weekly real estate blogs based on his real estate experience as a lender and property owner. I’m not an armchair reporter/writer. We are an actual private lender, lending our own money. We service our own loans and own commercial and residential real estate throughout the country.
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Written by Glen Weinberg, COO/ VP Fairview Commercial Lending. Glen has been published as an expert in hard money lending, real estate valuation, financing, and various other real estate topics in Bloomberg, Businessweek ,the Colorado Real Estate Journal, National Association of Realtors Magazine, The Real Deal real estate news, the CO Biz Magazine, The Denver Post, The Scotsman mortgage broker guide, Mortgage Professional America and various other national publications.
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