They are form of wealth tax which is not nice, but they have pragmatic value for assessing consumption and also luxury consumption. A township might rightly cha

They are form of wealth tax which is not nice, but they have pragmatic value for assessing consumption and also luxury consumption. A township might rightly charge more for services which are providing the economic value underpinning the property. And in many places, luxury taxes exist to tax 'non essential' forms of consumption in deference to things like investment, which is actually rational. Aka if your money is invested into value creating enterprise, it's not taxed the same way as your yacht or second mansion. That said, it can get excessive quickly.