You got me puzzled on that one. I understand about the "affordability factor" and agree but what is wrong with the property tax? I'd rather have mine a little high and not have to pay any stinkin sales or income tax. (This IS New Hampshire and by gum, I hope it stays that way.)
The thing you forget about sales tax......it takes approval BY VOTE before collection begins. No sales tax can be collected without a vote of the people. And many sales taxes have sunset clauses which require voter approval for renewal. Income taxe proposals are fully open for the people whenever the legislature debates the procedure. People have a voice in the process, depending on access to their local politician etc.
But property taxes are arbitrarly set by a county assessor based on criteria such as the value of adjoining property, what adjoining property has sold for, improvements to that property or adjoining property, road access, school district etc. The property tax rate for school tax is subject to voter approval (in Missouri anyhow), but the assessor has sole final say on the value placed on a property. The taxpayer can challenge the assessment, but only after paying the tax in full but under protest. Then hearings are held. Hopefully enough affected land owners in a certain area cause enough commotion to get a rollback, although each individual property is a seperate challenge with a seperate hearing. But if the land in question is lightly populated and owned by just a few, typically rural landowners, challenges are hard to win.
Another tool in Missouri is the automatic re-assessment of property every 3 years. Our state has granted the county the ability to re-assess and raise property values automatically every 3 years. Even if there are no improvements in that period the assessor automatically increases the value by 5-10-15-30% depending on inflation, growth and demand of property etc.
Although property tax is the main way local and county governments gain operating revenue, and fund schools, the expansion of government services continues to require more funding. This insatiable appetite for raising taxes gives the government collecting those taxes too much leaway and opens the potential for abuse like the view tax outlined in this forum.
Unlike in the case of sales and income tax where large groups can organize and fight unfair taxation, property taxes can only be fought one land owner at a time. Private income paying one lawyer while the government uses everyones tax money as leverage to pay their lawyers makes the system stacked heavily in favor of government tyranny over private property rights. Abuse of individual rights by government can not be tolerated in any form.
What happens in your state if you DON'T pay the property tax?