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Property tax news roundup — July 7, 2026

Last reviewed July 7, 2026 Sources & methodology

The story with the longest reach this cycle is a unanimous Supreme Court ruling on tax foreclosure: when a county sells your home over an unpaid bill, the surplus you're owed back is measured by what the auction fetched — not what the home was worth. It's the strongest argument yet for never letting a property tax bill go delinquent. Below that, the usual two-way traffic: Florida voters polling 64% in favor of the November homestead amendment while the fine print gets clearer, Jackson County, Missouri approving credits for homeowners who overpaid, Jersey City proposing a 15% hike, and new laws actually in effect in South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Arizona. As always, we keep the line between proposed and in effect bright.

The Supreme Court draws a hard line on foreclosure surplus

In 2023 the Supreme Court settled that when a government seizes and sells a home for unpaid taxes, it must return the surplus — the sale proceeds beyond the debt. The new ruling, described in this week's coverage as a 9-0 decision with the opinion by Justice Alito, answers the nastier follow-up: surplus measured against what? The Court picked the auction price, "nothing less and nothing more" — not the home's assessed or market value.

The case behind it is stark as reported: a Michigan family's home, which the county's own assessor valued at $194,400, was sold at a tax auction for $76,008 over a $2,242 tax bill — and the auction buyer resold it weeks later for roughly $195,000. Under the ruling, the family's compensation is built off the $76,008, so the gap between auction price and real value is simply gone. Justice Thomas wrote separately that what the county did was, in his words, "wrong, and on my initial view, likely unconstitutional" — even as the judgment stood.

The practical takeaway is blunt: the only reliable defense is keeping your home off the auction block, which means never letting a bill go delinquent. The coverage makes a point worth repeating for owners who've paid off their mortgage — with no escrow servicer paying taxes automatically, one missed certified letter during a hospital stay or a move is how this starts. If you're not sure how escrow protects you (or what you take on when you drop it), see the escrow accounts guide.

Florida: 64% support in polling, and the fine print gets clearer

A Sachs Media poll reported this week has 64% of Floridians supporting the property tax relief amendment — above the 60% it needs to pass on November 3. The split is partisan: 87% of Republicans, 62% of no-party voters, and 35% of Democrats plan to vote yes. County officials are already gaming out the hit; Manatee County leaders point to stormwater, public works, and parks as the likely first cuts.

Meanwhile the most useful explainer this cycle walks through the questions homeowners keep asking. The key points, as described:

Residency, not purchase date, is the test. Anyone living in Florida as their permanent home on or before December 31, 2026 is not a "new resident" — buying a house later doesn't change that. New arrivals after that date start at a flat $50,000 exemption for several years before jumping to the full amount.
Selling and rebuying doesn't reset anything. Existing residents keep portability of their Save Our Homes savings, same as today.
School taxes are untouched — often the biggest single line on a Florida bill. The existing $25,000 school exemption stays; there is no path to a true zero bill in the amendment as written.
The exemption phases in: $150,000 in January 2027, $250,000 in January 2028, then inflation-adjusted from 2029. Senior, veteran, and widow/widower exemptions stack on top unchanged.
Non-homestead property moves from a 10% to a 5% annual assessment cap starting January 2027.
Full elimination is a door, not a plan. The amendment orders the legislature to eventually build a procedure that could push the non-school exemption to 100% — but no procedure, timeline, or funding mechanism exists yet.

The explainer's sharpest warning is about what comes after: counties can't reassess their way around the exemption, but they can create new flat fees (which hit a $150,000 house the same as a $1.5 million one) and raise millage on whatever taxable value remains — so owners above the $250,000 exemption line could see savings eaten back. The budget hearings at your city and county commission over the next year decide that, not the November vote. Florida owners can check local rates on the Florida property tax by ZIP page, see the current system in the Florida property tax guide, and estimate what a bigger exemption is worth with the homestead exemption savings calculator.

Jackson County, Missouri: credits for homeowners who overpaid

A rare story where the money flows back. After years of fallout from Jackson County's contested assessments — more than 54,000 homeowners appealed in 2023, and the previous county executive was recalled — interim County Executive Phil LeVota signed an executive order on July 4, and the county legislature backed the same plan 9-0 on July 6. Homeowners who overpaid property taxes in 2023 and 2024 will receive an equal credit on their bills spread over the next three years, starting with this fall's bill. The three-year spread is deliberate, to soften the hit on school districts and other taxing jurisdictions.

It isn't settled peace: the Independence and Fort Osage school districts are suing over the credits, a Lee's Summit district spokeswoman put its loss at $27 million over three years, and one legislator who voted yes still questioned whether per-homeowner amounts — possibly in the $200–300 range — will feel like justice. Missouri owners can see where local rates stand on the Missouri property tax by ZIP page.

Two very different hikes: Jersey City and a brand-new Utah city

In Jersey City, Mayor James Solomon's proposed 20% property tax increase came down to 15% after the state sent $120 million — described as the largest aid package to any New Jersey municipality in history — plus roughly $10 million in cuts to transportation services and park maintenance. The mayor says the deficit his administration found on taking office was $255 million, about 30% of the operating budget and far beyond the $100–150 million every candidate assumed during the campaign; he calls it the worst municipal fiscal crisis in New Jersey since Atlantic City in 2015. He has ruled out public-safety layoffs and doesn't expect the rate to come back down soon. New Jersey rates by area are on the New Jersey property tax by ZIP page.

In Ogden Valley, Utah — a newly incorporated city — residents currently paying about $60–90 a year in city property tax could see roughly five times that. The city missed a state deadline to register as a taxing entity by January 1, sued the state tax commission, and on June 22 a judge granted a temporary restraining order letting it proceed with the truth-in-taxation process anyway. A council member's framing: without the increase, the city can't fund road repairs, stormwater management, or timely land-use permits. It's temporary relief in ongoing litigation, so the outcome can still change. Utah rates are on the Utah property tax by ZIP page.

New laws now in effect: South Carolina, Rhode Island, Arizona

South Carolina passed a law in May protecting families with heirs' property — land passed down without a clear will or title, common among the state's Gullah Geechee communities — from reassessment spikes while they subdivide or settle it. Families still pay the regular rate, but won't be hit with the kind of jump one advocate described in a reassessment case: $440 a year to $2,200 after a spouse's death. It applies to property tax years after 2025. South Carolina rates are on the South Carolina property tax by ZIP page.

Rhode Island's so-called "Taylor Swift tax" is now in effect: an extra state property tax on non-owner-occupied residential properties assessed over $1 million, applied to the value above $1 million, unless the owner can show 183+ days of occupancy (or rents the home more than half the year). Per the state Division of Taxation, about 8,245 properties could be subject after exemptions and residency proofs. The namesake example: Swift's Westerly mansion, assessed at more than $28 million, could owe the state over $136,000 on top of town taxes. Revenue is dedicated to affordable housing. Rhode Island rates are on the Rhode Island property tax by ZIP page.

Arizona celebrated the disabled-veteran expansion we covered last roundup (House Bill 4168), and the details are now clearer: beginning tax year 2027, income limits and home value caps are eliminated. Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability — or total disability based on individual unemployability — pay no property tax on a qualifying primary residence; veterans at lower ratings get relief scaled to their rating, and surviving spouses keep the benefit even if they move. See how these programs stack in the senior and veteran exemptions guide, and check local rates on the Arizona property tax by ZIP page.

Ohio: elimination talk up top, a 24% reval on the ground

The "Axe the Ohio Tax" initiative — a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate property taxes outright — keeps drawing the same battle lines. Supporters describe families priced out of staying ("we're actually considering selling our property because the taxes are just too much") and want the revenue replaced by other sources such as a sales tax. Emergency services answer with the math: property taxes generate roughly $24 billion a year for Ohio local governments and schools, and Jefferson County's 911 director says about 90% of his agency's funding comes from a voter-approved levy. Both sides in the coverage agree on one thing — any replacement system would need years of runway, not a hard cutoff. The amendment would need voter approval before anything changes.

The concrete Ohio story is in Mahoning County, where commissioners doubled the owner-occupancy credit by 2.5 points to a total 5% off eligible bills, ahead of a reappraisal the auditor says will raise residential values about 24% on average (after 38% last cycle). The state also shifted Mahoning and roughly 25 other counties to a four-year reappraisal cycle instead of three, so the new values will stand longer. The auditor's own reminder is the one to act on: you can appeal your new value to the Board of Revision from January 1 through the end of March. Ohio owners can compare rates on the Ohio property tax by ZIP page and estimate what a reval does to a bill with the reassessment impact calculator.

Your assessment was probably made by software — check the record card

One widely watched explainer this week digs into how assessed values actually get made: not by an assessor at the curb, but by computer-assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) software valuing thousands of homes at once from county file data and neighborhood sales. The coverage cites studies finding the errors lean regressive — a Cook County analysis where owners of $300,000 homes paid an effective rate about 24% higher than owners of $600,000 homes, an Atlanta study where 69% of the lowest-value homes were overcharged versus 32% of the priciest, and a Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia paper finding the pattern across states.

The actionable part: pull your property record card (public, usually free online) and check it line by line — square footage, bedroom and bathroom counts, phantom features like a finished basement or garage you don't have, and the condition grade. Correcting the data beats arguing the value: per the coverage, roughly 40–60% of appeals succeed, yet only about 5% of homeowners ever file, and the window after a notice of value is short — often 30 to 45 days. The property tax appeal guide walks through the process, and the appeal savings calculator shows what a corrected value is worth.

What to watch

Florida: the amendment needs 60% on November 3; polling says 64%. The real fight moves to county and city budget hearings over the following year.
Jackson County, MO: school-district lawsuits could reshape or delay the overpayment credits before fall bills go out — and per-homeowner amounts aren't published yet.
Jersey City: the 15% increase still needs a council vote.
Ogden Valley, UT: the restraining order is temporary; the litigation with the state tax commission continues.
Ohio: whether "Axe the Ohio Tax" gathers what it needs to reach voters — and, in reval counties, the January–March Board of Revision window.
Tax foreclosure everywhere: after the Supreme Court ruling, the surplus you'd recover from a tax sale is capped by the auction price. If a bill is slipping, act before delinquency, not after.

Sources

This roundup synthesizes recent US property-tax coverage on YouTube into themes rather than summarizing each clip, and keeps enacted changes separate from proposals. The South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Mahoning County items are enacted; the Florida amendment, Jersey City budget, and Ohio elimination initiative are still ahead of votes. The Supreme Court and assessment-software items come from a commentary channel rather than a newsroom — the ruling's practical effect is as described there, but confirm case details and any specific figure, bill number, or effective date with a primary source before relying on it. The underlying videos: