The new property tax revolt: No taxation without consent

American colonists revolted against the British government under the banner “no taxation without representation.” The banner for the new property tax revolt in America is “no taxation without consent.”

The first property tax revolt was launched by Proposition 13 in California in the 1970s. Double-digit inflation rates increased the assessed value of homes, and property taxes were increasing more rapidly than the inflation rate. Inflationary increases in property taxes were literally taxing California citizens out of their homes.

California citizens could not do much about inflation; that is a government failure to stabilize prices. But they could protect themselves from inflationary increases in their property taxes. Proposition 13 fixed the millage rate and capped annual increases in the assessed value of their homes. It also required

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