Property Taxes - Paying for Your Quality of Life By Luke Patel

Almost every property owner complains about being taxed to death. In an economy where we have seen homes drop in value and foreclosure rates skyrocket, many counties and parishes are actually increasing property taxes. How can they justify this behavior? To them, it is a matter of supply and demand, and the demand for your tax dollars is probably higher in these rocky economic times than ever before. This might not seem fair, but can be necessary. It also might leave you wondering just how important are taxes?



These taxes are critical to the function of local government. Your local property taxes provide all funding for county emergency medical and fire department personnel and their stations/equipment. These taxes also provide the bulk of the budget for your school system. County and/or parish road departments, parks and recreation, zoning and planning departments and countless other myriad services all get their funding from your property tax dollars. How important are property taxes? They are critical to your being able to live in a safe, well-run community.

What would happen if people simply didn't pay their property taxes? For starters, local government could not function. Then, the quality of life in your area would immediately decline. Of course, prevention of this is the reason many taxing authorities have harsh penalties for non-payment of property taxes that can range from a late fee to the county taking possession of your property and selling it at auction. To avoid this, you simply need to budget your taxes into your homeowner's budget each year.

As a side note, you should remember that many mortgage holders require an escrow account for funds to cover both taxes and homeowners insurance. If you have such an account, your tax bill goes to the mortgage holder and you pay through them.


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