The story shows that as property values take a drop, the absolute amount of tax revenues sucked from the productive, private economy keeps growing.
Reporter Tom Kertscher correctly notes that even in good times politicians were disingenuous when they talked about tax rates going down – the absolute amount of tax levy dollars taken would typically rise.
There was an underlying dishonesty and danger in a growing levy that cannot be rationalized simply because home prices might have been climbing (as they are not doing now).
One might just as well say that it’s fine for a man to be morbidly obese, and grow larger still, so long as he keeps putting new additions on his house. Even if the house grows faster than the man, his sheer size represents an inherent health risk.
See, Journal Sentinel: Property Values Go Down, but Tax Rates, Levies Go Up.