McCAUGHEY: Property tax revolt exploding across the United States

“Affordability” is the Democrats’ battle cry to win elections these days. But Republicans are ready to flip the script to woo homeowners, who make up the majority (65%) of American households.

Across the nation, these homeowners are angry and ready to fight against soaring property taxes. Their homes have appreciated, but they don’t have more cash in their pockets to pay the rising taxes that come with rising home values.

A property tax revolt, with silver-haired payers leading the charge, is likely to shape the political map for November 2026.

Steve Moore, co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, predicts fierce battles in state capitols, where teacher unions and other special interests will attempt to halt the tax relief movement, warning about damaging cuts to school budgets and the deterioration of roads and streets.

These interests favour any state law that forces towns to reassess homes periodically because it leads to more local revenue. That’s more money taken out of homeowners’ pockets to fill public workers’ paycheques.

Issue dominating political scene in Texas, Florida

The fights are already happening and evidence so far shows that property tax relief is a winner. It’s dominating in Texas and Florida, underway in Wyoming and Wisconsin and there is even some hope that it will catch fire in tax-hell New York state and neighbouring, tax-beleaguered Connecticut.

In the blue city of Austin, Texas, 63% of voters rejected a proposal last month put forward by the Democratic mayor and city council to increase property taxes. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing a 3% annual statewide cap on how fast a home’s assessment rises. He’s styling himself as the protector of homeownership. Smart politics.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is making property tax reform his issue, too, even floating eliminating property taxes and replacing them with sales taxes, a state fund to help the poorest counties and — imagine this — frugality.

Florida epitomizes the problem of soaring property values. One Panama City retiree complains that his tiny two-bedroom, two-bathroom home just got slapped with $4,200 in property taxes, even though his income is only $32,000.

Florida already has a sensible law, the Save Our Homes Act, that limits annual assessment increases to 3% or inflation, whichever is lower. But when real estate turns over, the limit doesn’t apply. In some counties, home values have tripled and residents are panicking.

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New Yorkers being squeezed by property taxes

Property tax reform is the biggest issue being fought out in the state legislature and Florida voters will ultimately have a chance to vote on one or even several ballot propositions to curb or eliminate property taxes.

Here’s the irony: Floridians are living in a tax paradise compared to what New Yorkers endure. New Yorkers cough up the most state and local taxes per capita of anyone in the U.S., according to the Tax Foundation. Of the seven counties in the U.S. with the highest property taxes, six are in New York state: Westchester, Suffolk, Rockland, Putnam, Nassau and Manhattan.

Of the nation’s metropolitan areas, economically depressed Syracuse, N.Y., has the highest property tax rate, according to the American City Business Journals’ report, taxing $28.82 per $1,000 worth of property. The city spends too much, said Robert Ward of the Business Council Policy Institute.

The situation would be even worse today if the ignominious former governor Andrew Cuomo had not pushed through an important reform in 2010 to cap annual increases in local levies to the lesser of 2% or the rate of inflation. But as homes are bought and sold, the cap is lifted and property taxes soar.

Cap on property tax hikes pitched

Bruce Blakeman, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2026, will likely make property relief a key issue. As county executive in Nassau, where real estate is pricey, Blakeman froze assessments for four consecutive years to avert tax increases. That is in a county that is heavily Democratic. Blakeman sees the explosive political potential of the issue. Stay tuned.

Next door in Connecticut, home prices have risen 60% over the last five years and owners are nearing desperation. Their property taxes reflect skyrocketing home values, when taxes should be going up only modestly to reflect inflationary increases in the cost of town services and schools.

Connecticut needs a cap on property tax hikes, limiting them to the rate of inflation. But most of the voices in the state capitol push for more revenue to keep the government gravy train running. Homeowners be damned.

With outrage rising, all that could change. Home ownership is the American dream. Property taxes threaten it. Voters of all persuasions are feeling the pain, setting in motion a demand for tax fairness that could make 2026 an upset election season.

— McCaughey is a former lieutenant-governor of New York state.