>The property tax levy is fixed year to year, and makes up the majority of the revenue for school districts in my state. I'm sorry, I don't understand this. W

>The property tax levy is fixed year to year, and makes up the majority of the revenue for school districts in my state. I'm sorry, I don't understand this. What do you mean by "levy"? Every place I've ever seen had property taxes based on assessed property values; there was a tax rate, which is a percentage of the property value. (And yes, the assessed value is almost always lower than the market value, but it still rises with the market values.) Property values have shot up tremendously over the past ~5 years, so local governments have gotten a windfall in property tax revenues. Did they use this to pay teachers better and make the teaching profession more attractive? No. Now, all of a sudden, property values are declining and you're complaining about revenues falling?