Property taxes have been structured in such a way that annual increases are part of the design. That hasn't stopped anti-tax activists from doing their best to

Property taxes have been structured in such a way that annual increases are part of the design. That hasn't stopped anti-tax activists from doing their best to decimate them as well (see California's Prop 13). The acolytes of the anti-tax movement have done a great job of instilling in people the idea that all tax increases are bad, even if they aren't, and even if they're an attempt to make a tax system fairer (see, for example, the current attempt in Illinois to amend the constitution to eliminate the requirement that the state income tax have a single flat rate—I see a lot of people arguing in bad faith to scare people that this will raise their taxes when, in fact, the overall tax increase from the proposed new rates is low and will be a decrease for most residents, but heaven forbid that people with high six figure incomes have to pay more). There's been a destructive movement in this country against any and all taxes for over forty years and the state of roads is just one symptom of that movement.