New Generation of Tax Revolts

The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article on the latest in property tax revolts.  Most of the activity appears to be in states where property values have increased rapidly (as was true at the time that Proposition XIII passed in California back in the 1970's).  Here's the short list of current highlights from the article:

• Idaho: Lawmakers are mulling over eight bills limiting property taxes. One would revise the "homestead exemption," which now keeps the first $50,000 of a home's value off the tax rolls. The bill boosts that to $100,000.

• South Carolina: Having capped the rise in property tax assessments at 3 percent per year until a home is sold or improved, the legislature is now considering a rollback of property taxes, replacing them with a hike in the sales tax.

• Georgia: Many lawmakers are backing legislation that would put a similar 3 percent cap into the state constitution.

• Nevada: Protesters are gathering signatures for a citizen initiative that would require the state to refund taxpayers if state revenues rise faster than inflation. They also want to cap the growth in property tax bills at 1 percent per year.

• Connecticut: After an uproar over massive assessment hikes for lakefront properties around the state, state officials have ordered cities and towns that have seen property tax spikes to calibrate disputed assessments to "comparable" properties, based on records of recent sales.