Last month, an Idaho lawmaker called the property tax “inherently evil” and suggested the state repeal it and replace the foregone revenue with a

Critics Argue The Property Tax Is Unfair. Do They Have A Point?

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2023-02-03 22:30:05

Last month, an Idaho lawmaker called the property tax “inherently evil” and suggested the state repeal it and replace the foregone revenue with a higher sales tax. He described the property tax in feudal terms, saying it “dates back to the dark ages or the middle ages when the lords of the manor had to pay taxes to the Kings and the Queens otherwise they didn't get to keep their land.”

This caught my attention because I’m a nerdy tax economist and we are known for loving property taxes while the general public, well, doesn’t. So my first, pedantic reaction was to tweet that, actually, the property tax dates to 6,000 B.C. And it performs very well on criteria of sound taxation like efficiency, equity, and reliability.

But, because proposals to eliminate (or substantially reduce) the property tax resurface every few years (similar plans have been floated in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Texas and enacted in South Carolina), I decided to revisit some of the property tax haters' best arguments through the prism of some of my favorite more nuanced resources.

The takeaway: although a good tax, the property tax has some troublesome features. These flaws are hardly deal breakers but they do knock the property tax off its pedestal. Politicians, commissions, property owners, and advocates should keep them in mind when embarking on reforms.