An issue with the present system is that the status quo is virtually immutable. How cities can tax is rigidly constrained by state laws. Attempts to change thos

An issue with the present system is that the status quo is virtually immutable. How cities can tax is rigidly constrained by state laws. Attempts to change those laws run into every possible obstacle, especially if it's perceived that someone is getting more goodies, and someone else less. Often, divided along urban / rural lines. Now, it's not entirely rigid. In my state, each city sets its budget, then your tax bill is simply the budget weighted by the value of your property. Some kinds of extra expenditures such as bond issues can be approved through referendum. Others can be tacked onto the homeowners whose goodies are getting fixed, through special assessments. When the street in front of my house was rebuilt, I got a bill from the city for X amount based on Y feet of frontage. It's a tiny bit complex because you also live in a county which is doing the same thing. But the fundamental of assessing real estate and using it as the foundation of your tax bill is practically carved into stone. And it does have the advantage of being relatively straightforward to compute. In a town with a relatively brisk market, your assessment is going to be pretty close to what you paid for the house plus an inflation factor based on your neighborhood. And you know that your neighbor isn't somehow wriggling out of their tax obligation. That's overlooking the exceptions of course, but it captures the gist of it.