Florida and at least a few other states are considering limiting or eliminating property taxes:

Florida’s leaders are considering a far-reaching remedy to cut the soaring costs of owning a home: ditching property taxes…

“People are getting crushed not just by home insurance but by property taxes,” said GOP state Sen. Jonathan Martin, who is sponsoring a bill that would require a study on the elimination of property taxes be completed by October. “That American dream in Florida is taking five figures a year in local taxes.”

Revolts against property taxes have erupted elsewhere in recent months as homeowners’ tax bills have risen alongside home values. Property values in the U.S. increased 27%, adjusted for inflation, between January 2020 and July 2024, according to the Tax Foundation, a think tank.

“You’re seeing a groundswell of opposition to property taxes generally”—one reminiscent of a wave of protest in the 1970s and 1980s that triggered ballot measures including Proposition 13 in California that capped property taxes, said Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation.

A number of states including Wyoming, Kansas and Montana are weighing significant property-tax limitations, he said. In November, voters in North Dakota rejected a ballot measure that would have eliminated property taxes.

This is the double-edged sword of property taxes in the United States: homeowners like their property values going up but they do not like it when their property taxes adjust to that increased value. In the short-term people do not want to pay more in taxes even as in the long-term they will benefit from selling at a higher price.

So what other taxes might people be willing to pay if property taxes are reduced or done away with? There would be other ways to generate revenue that would not be tied to property values. More taxes on driving? Higher sales taxes? Increased tax rates on business activity?

It would also be interesting to see how local governments would adjust to the change in funding. Would other tax formulas equal the same amounts that come now through property taxes? Who would make up the shortfalls in funding?