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HeyBub[_3_]

wrote:

There is a popular misconception that if all the properties in a
community were to be valued at twice as much, then the taxes would be
2X. In most cases, this is simply not true. Around here (NJ)
people go nuts when there is an upcoming property revaluation, because
they think when there property is revalued higher, they are going to
pay a lot more in tax. What determines local property taxes is the
amount of money that the community needs to operate. So, if
community X needs $20mil to run, they are going to get $20mil
regardless of what the total valuations are. If all the properties
get revalued to 2X what they were to bring them in line with current
market value, the tax rate then gets cut in half, resulting in the
same amount of revenue to the municipality.

Which is just the reverse of the way it should be. The size of government
should be based on what people can afford, not the taxes based on what the
government needs.