[eweise]

Property values go up over time. I initially paid $8k a year and now its $14K, which is actually about right for the market. I am protected from wild increases so that I don't have to move my kids out of a neighborhood and school they've grown up in.

I agree that scaling property taxes with their values is bad. Not sure why government expenses magically double when housing value do.

[gkop]

Look into land value tax. The goal of property tax is not just to fund collective expenses, but also to encourage the most valuable use of the land for the collective benefit (eg. let's not waste valuable inner Bay Area land on single family homes, but instead with more dense uses like four plexes).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax

[eweise]

I guess that makes sense if your goal is to use land most efficiently. Not sure that what is most important though.

[gkop]

Agreed, it's a balance. I think replacing prop 13 with taxes deferable until sale would be a good step in the right direction.

[rcpt]

The existing lock in effect of 13 would be orders of magnitude stronger. Nobody would ever sell and prices would skyrocket.

[gkop]

Huh? Eventually the current owners will die

[rcpt]

Yes but there are places in the world where the house you buy when you're 30 isn't the one with your deathbed.

Ideally living people will move out and make room for the next generation when they no longer have use for 4 bedrooms in a good school district close to jobs.