No Two Property Taxes Are Alike

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence have released the latest version of the annual 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study.

A blog post announcing the new study focuses on the discrepancies in property tax rates that can arise parcel to parcel in cities like Los Angeles, where proposition 13 can mean one house pays twice as much in property taxes as the house next door. "Of the ten American cities with the greatest discrepancy in taxes paid by new homeowners and longtime homeowners, six are in California and two are in Florida, where the 1992 Save Our Homes constitutional amendment similarly restricts reassessment," according to the post.

The report analyses effective property tax rates—"the tax paid as a percentage of market value"—in 100 cities located in every state. As in previous years, the report also lists the cities with the highest and lowest effective property tax rates.