“the price is so low that the tax value won’t cover the costs of the City services “
Yeah, but if the house is empyt it’s even worse.
Federal policies to cushion the housing collapse are hurting localities.
Localities are going to have to turn to personal property, sales, income taxes and fees for more of their taxes.
But if the banks won’t sell their REOs for realistic prices even that won’t work
You’re exactly right, and we are already seeing exactly what you describe here in SW Washington. Our property taxes have gone consistently up while the assessed value of our home has plummeted. The City has a $10 Million deficit, they have already closed one fire station, and are talking about streetlight fees, street maintenance fees, leaf collection fees, enforcing dog licensing, etc, etc, etc.