Property taxes are, effectively, rent paid to the local government by people who otherwise think that they own said property. Fail to pay it, and you get evicte

Property taxes are, effectively, rent paid to the local government by people who otherwise think that they own said property. Fail to pay it, and you get evicted. It is quite a racket already, but combine this with crony deals with private companies, and corruption shows its ugly face. It is all "legal", since the ones carrying out the scheme also happen to make the rules.