- New Jersey
- Illinois
- New Hampshire
- Connecticut
- Wisconsin
- Texas
- Nebraska
- Michigan
- Vermont
- Rhode Island
Top 10 Best States
- Hawaii
- Alabama
- Louisiana
- Delaware
- South Carolina
- District of Columbia
- West Virginia
- Arkansas
- Wyoming
- Colorado
America’s tax system is one of the most complicated of any country. When you look at states individually, you will notice that some have high property taxes and others do not. Why is this?
If you live in high property tax states like New Hampshire and Texas, you will notice that they rely heavily on property taxes to make up for the lack of tax collections in other categories; others, like New Jersey and Illinois, impose high property taxes as well as high rates in the other major tax categories.
Looking deeper into the state level, states tax real property in a variety of ways. Some impose a rate or a millage—the amount of tax per thousand dollars of value—on the fair market value of the property, while others impose it on some percentage (the assessment ratio) of the market value, yielding an assessed value.
Some states have equalization requirements, ensuring uniformity across the state. Sometimes caps limit the degree to which one’s property taxes can rise in a given year, and sometimes rate adjustments are mandated after assessments to ensure uniformity or maintenance of revenues. Abatements are often available to certain taxpayers, like veterans or senior citizens. And of course, property tax rates are set by political subdivisions at a variety of levels: not only by cities and counties, but often also by school boards, fire departments, and utility commissions.
If you have any questions about commercial property taxes in your area, call or email us.