Property Taxes Cuts on the Ballot in at Least Eight States

From completely eliminating property tax to creating new exemptions, voters in eight states across the country will cast their votes on a variety of ballot measures that could have major implications for local budgets.

2 minute read

August 18, 2024, 11:13 AM PDT

By Mary Hammon @marykhammon


Historic homes with intricate white trim on tree-lined street in Richmond, Virginia.

DRWelch / Adobe Stock

According to an article in Stateline, measures aimed at reducing property taxes will be on the ballot in at least eight states this November: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, North Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming. The move comes as home market values, which have increased about 50 percent since August 2019, are starting to impact property assessments, and home owners are feeling the pinch.

“No state illustrates this year’s flurry of ballot measures to cut property taxes better than Colorado,” where “one ballot initiative would cap annual state property tax revenue growth from residential and commercial properties at 4%” and another, which has not currently qualified for the ballot but is expected to, “would cut residential and commercial property tax assessment rates,” reports Stateline’s Elaine S. Povich.

Property taxes have always been unpopular, despite being a fairly efficient form of taxation; experts posit that’s because they are often “paid in a large lump a couple or so times a year — as opposed to income taxes or sales taxes, which are paid in dribbles — they tend to leave a bigger impression on taxpayers,” Povich writes. Some groups in Colorado want an even higher cap than 4 percent, but some say the ballot measure go too far and risk eroding the funding source for critical government services like schools, roads, emergency responders, and other local government services.

Here’s a quick summary of the property-tax related ballot measures beyond Colorado:

  • Arizona: Property owners could “apply for a property tax refund if the municipality does not enforce laws against illegal camping, loitering, panhandling, public urination, public consumption of alcohol and possession of illegal substances. 
  • Florida: State would allow adjust the homestead exemption according to annual inflation for people whose properties are their primary residence
  • Georgia: Localities could create a homestead exemption for homeowners who use a property as their primary residence.
  • New Mexico: Veterans would get more property tax breaks.
  • North Dakota: Property taxes would be eliminated entirely, which experts say could cost the state $1.3 billion per year.
  • Virginia: Veterans would get more property tax breaks.
  • Wyoming: State would create a new class of property for taxation, separating owner-occupied dwellings from rental properties.

Tuesday, August 13, 2024 in Stateline

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Line of RVs being used as homes parked on street in Mountain View, California.

Seattle Safe Parking Site to Close, Relocate

A nonprofit leases lots during permitting stages to erect tiny homes and RV safe parking sites for unhoused residents. But the model means constant uncertainty and displacement.

May 25 - The Seattle Times

Orange Los Angeles Metro bus passing on blurred street at night.

LA ‘Mobility Wallet’ Increased Quality of Life for Participants

The city distributed a monthly $150 transportation subsidy to 1,000 low-income Angelenos. It dramatically improved their lives.

May 25 - KTLA

White Shinkansen high-speed rail train passing on bridge over pond in Japan.

Texas, California Rail Projects Seek Out Private Funding

In the wake of Trump’s cuts to high-speed rail projects, rail authorities are looking to private-public partnerships to supplement their budgets.

May 25 - Smart Cities Dive