"Leon" writes:

LOL. The permits do not seem to have any weight with them. They want to
raise my taxes in Houston so suddenly my house is larger than it was when it
was built and nothing has been added. Suddenly my house got bigger and my
garage got smaller. Down here it is the air conditioned space that counts
as the square footage that determines the tax bill. I pointed out the
problem and they changed my garage size back to the real dimensions.

I don't understand why property taxes are ever based on anything besides
the value of your property. If you think tbe assessor has assigned too
high a value you can pay an appraiser to do a formal appraisal.

In your case, it sounds like someone with a large lot or large garage
would pay the same as someone with a small lot/garage but the same size
living space.

Personally, I would do a local income tax with a flat fee for services for
every house. A larger house doesn't usually mean more city services
except maybe if it starts on fire. An eldery couple living on social
security sometimes can't afford to stay in their house because the
property taxes get so high.

Brian Elfert