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quintk t1_iri5xuv wrote

Property tax in the US is paid to the town or city.

Property tax is paid once or twice a year and is a percentage of the value of the home. But that percentage changes based on the needs of the town. If everyone’s houses are suddenly worth 20% more, the tax rate percentage will probably decrease (because the town budget hasn’t increased by 20%) and the actual tax in dollars won’t change that much. Different towns will have different tax rates depending on their budgets, the property values, and whether they have other income (for example commercial taxes).

Every US state is run differently. In some states more is done by the state, or they provide more assistance to the towns. These places may have lower property taxes but there may be state income or sales taxes.

Some states provide more services to their residents than others, and as with countries, providing more services, or having more people who need them, means more tax overall. So you can have high property taxes but low or no income or sales taxes, or high income and sales taxes but low property taxes, or all three may be high!

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