“In other words, a $4,000 tax bill on a $35,000 property is insane and unjust. I wouldn’t pay it either.”
Yeah, for all those who trash California, thanks to Proposition 13, we pay something like $6,000 on a home worth $1,5 million and we get all the services for which we pay! Someone in Detroit should start asking the City Council where all the money goes ( probably into their pockets )! Property taxes should be used to pay for only those things that are directly related to the property itself. If that were policy, the value of the home would not be the major factor in determining the actual tax to be paid. And get the schools off of the property tax,
Politicians think of Government (Local, State and Federal) as a jobs program for their constituents. Philadelphia, for instance, has half the population of 40 yrs ago, but 5 times the amount of Gov’t workers.
Worry not though, because you can’t have your cake and eat it too and the day of reckoning is coming.