Shaffer opines on property tax metrics

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Dear Editor:

All the crocodile tears being shed over property tax cuts omits the scam at the root of the system.

Your soon-to-arrive 2025 property tax bill will be based, like its predecessors, on the assessed value of your home.

“Assessed value” means what your place is worth in today’s market.

That, in turn, is the sum of what you paid for the place and the equity built up since you bought it.

In other words, instead of taxing you on what you actually paid, the county bills you on unrealized capital gain – or puff.

If and when the housing bubble bursts, it will take years for the county to factor in your “loss” in assessed value.

Bill Shaffer
Carmel