All those that own their own domicile, are responsible for the payment of property taxes upon that property, each and every year. Those that are renters, may seem to have “no dog in this fight,” but in fact, because their landlord pays property taxes on that rental property, we do so find, that renters, in an indirect way, also pay property taxes, because when expenses for landlords go up, the renters are the ones that are going to have to basically foot that bill as well.
In America, there are those rules, and then there are those exceptions to those rules, along with also special deals so done through the legislative arm of the city or county, with or without public oversight. That is to say, one might think that property so own, such as certain corporate buildings, churches, schools, hospitals, non-profits, and the like, all are subject to property taxes, but in fact, this typically isn’t true, whatsoever. For the most part, though not always, non-profits, schools, universities, museums, foundations, religious institutions, and credit unions, are often not subject to property taxes, and some of these organizations sit in very desirable locations, of a considerable size, of which this particular piece of property, may be worth millions upon millions of dollars, but is somehow legally not subject to a property tax. Additionally, there are public companies, that because of their size, strength, and influence, for instance, as in a Walmart or Amazon, that are able through a “negotiation” to reduce or to eliminate property taxes, in return for bringing jobs into a community. The fact that corporations that make billions in profit, have even the audacity to ask for a reduction in their property taxes, should be seen as galling to the average citizen.
The reason for property taxes, in the first place, is primarily for the city and/or county government, to collect funds so necessary for police and fire personnel, for schools, for parks, as well as for necessary infrastructure so needed within the community. Those that are excluded from the paying of property taxes, or have had their property taxes negotiated down in return for jobs and the like, or are senior citizens, and have thereby availed themselves of having their school portion of their property taxes removed, means that all those others, that are not subject to those exemptions, are going to have to pay for those that have not paid their full or fair share.
While there may be good reasons why so many companies and organizations are exempt from the paying of property taxes, a very strong argument could be made and should be made, that those that are exempt or have had favors bestowed upon them for a reduction of their taxes, should in many a case, be subject to paying their fair share. After all, nobody really wants to pay property taxes, to begin with -- so to believe, somehow, that it is just fine to charge your average homeowner the full freight of those property taxes, but somehow, for example, a university with an endowment in the millions or possibly the billions of dollars nothing at all, is grossly unfair. In the nature of things, property taxes are what a good citizenry has a responsibility to pay their fair share of, in order to have the accouterments of a good and vibrant community environment, and those that do not pay their fair share, are essentially riding on the backs of all those that do.