Property Taxes 2011 growth: 4.6 percent. 2012 growth: 4.1 percent. 2013 growth: 4.2 percent, (“Growing Out of Control” 39). Nobody likes paying taxes, especially if the rates keep growing. Property taxes are the fastest growing over any other tax in the United States. These are the taxes that are used to fund our schools today. Yet, schools are still not receiving the amount of money that they need to function properly. The truth is, property taxes are not an adequate way to fund school districts. There are many reasons behind why property taxes are not the best way to fund school districts. One is simply that they are not equitable for every school district. Also, not everyone pays property taxes, and for the ones that do, they experience extreme burdens from them. By using property taxes, states have had the ability to slack on their spending, which then adds pressure to the taxpayers having to pay. The way schools are funded need to change. They need to change from property taxes to sales taxes. …show more content…
Even though some schools may be bigger than others, or they might need more programs funded, the difference between districts’ received amount of money is too unequal. When taxes are levied each year, they are often times distributed differently throughout the state. "Property taxes are generally levied annually and calculated by multiplying the property value by an assessment ratio to obtain a taxable value. Assessment ratios can vary from less than 0.1 (less than 10%) to more than 1 (greater than 100%)," (“The Role of Government” 16). Because the ratios can vary, this can cause certain districts to have to pay more money in property taxes. This then will allow those districts to receive more funding than other districts that have a different ratio or