Taxed to the Max: How Your House Might Soon Be Free — As Long As You’re Ready to Pay in Sales Tax and Therapy

If you thought 2025 was the year property taxes quietly stewed on the back burner, surprise: next year looks like a full-service tax buffet!

Lawmakers across the country have been wrestling with homeowners’ fury at ballooning property bills, and 2026 promises more drama — from carefully targeted exemptions to full-throated proposals to eliminate property taxes altogether.

Manish Bhatt of the Tax Foundation puts it bluntly:

“Property tax reform is going to continue to be an issue going into 2026 because it was largely not resolved in 2025 or in years prior, and taxpayers are still clamoring for relief.”

Why the panic?

Home values shot up after the pandemic, and for many homeowners that translated into sticker shock on tax bills.

National reporting finds property-tax payments have risen roughly 27–30% since 2019 in many places — enough to make the phrase “I’m upside-down” sound quaint...

The legislative responses are, delightfully, all over the map. Here's a slight breakdown of a few:

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Florida: The Sunshine State’s Tax Tango

Governor Ron DeSantis has been very clear: he’d like property taxes gone.

For months he’s backed efforts to eliminate or deeply pare back property taxes in Florida, even as polls suggest most Floridians aren’t clamoring for total abolition.

The political pitch is simple and theatrical: homeowners cheer, local services quietly sweat.

Experts warn that replacing property tax revenue — the money that funds schools, local services and other local projects — will mean raising other taxes or slashing budgets.

“If they were to get rid of their property, they would still have to balance their budgets,” the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy's Kamolika Das warns.

Illinois: The Golden-Oldies Exemption

Illinois’ SB 1862 proposes a 30-year homestead exemption: if you’ve lived in the same home for 30 years, congratulations — your home might become tax-exempt.

It’s a fix that sounds like a warm quilt for retirees but reads as a cold compress for first-time buyers and younger families who won’t get the same break.

Critics call it poorly targeted and inequitable — a gift to longstanding (and often wealthier) homeowners that would erode the local tax base.

Kansas: Create a Board, Then Let It Do Whatever It Feels Like

HCR 5014 in Kansas would set up a “Kansas Citizens Freedom Review Board” with the startling power to review and revoke exemptions — and ultimately to nudge the state toward abolishing state-imposed property and income taxes.

Sounds tidy in a memo, chaotic at the kitchen table.

ITEP's Das sums up the worry:

“That is extremely risky because tax exemptions are really complex policy tools … you want the people making those decisions to have a lot of technical expertise.”

Ohio: Five Bills, One Governor’s Desk

Ohio lawmakers bundled five property-tax measures and sent them to Governor Mike DeWine — a grab-bag of relief options including levy tweaks, inflation caps on tax-bill growth, and valuation-dispute rule changes.

Meanwhile, grassroots activists are trying to circulate petitions to put abolition on the ballot, though experts think that’s a long shot.

Pennsylvania: Kill School Property Taxes? Maybe Later

SB 929 in Pennsylvania would prohibit school districts from collecting property taxes beginning in 2029 — and then make up the loss with sales and income tax increases.

The politics here are theatrical; the math is brutal.

As ITEP's Das notes, school property taxes raise between $15–$17 billion in Pennsylvania — not small change, and not easily replaced without real pain.

Texas: Big Exemptions, Bigger Questions

Texans approved a trio of constitutional amendments this year that substantially expand homestead exemptions and business property thresholds.

The results: significant cuts for many homeowners — and a nagging inequality problem.

“You’re talking about a place again that doesn’t have income tax revenue,” ITEP's Das points out, meaning the state’s reliance on indirect taxes could worsen regressivity.

So, what’s the takeaway?

The headline-friendly promise — “lower or no property taxes!” — hides an arithmetic trick: somebody still has to pay for schools, roads, and those tribute tribunes called county budgets.

As Bhatt puts it, many proposals are rushed and fail to follow sound tax-policy principles.

Without clear plans for replacement revenue, a real risk is regressivity: lower bills for homeowners who are already better off, and higher burdens on renters and lower-income residents.

So whether you’re rooting for abolition, a 30-year home-loyalty award, or a citizen board that sounds suspiciously like governance roulette, 2026 promises to be noisy.

So be sure to bring some popcorn — and maybe a calculator, too!

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# #TaxReformTheSequel #DeSantisVsTheTaxMan #BhattSaysWatchThis #NoFreeLunchTaxes #SB1862 #HCR5014 #OhioPropertyPack #PennSB929 #TexasTaxCuts #WhoPaysNow #TaxPolicyFails #HomeownerReliefOrNot #TaxDebateLive #EconomicsWithPopcorn

Sources Summary

Newsweek reporting & expert quotes on 2026 property tax debate (Manish Bhatt, Kamolika Das). (Newsweek)
Data and reporting on nationwide property-tax increases since 2019 (CoreLogic/Redfin coverage referenced). (The MortgagePoint -)
Illinois SB1862 bill text and summary (30-year homestead exemption). (LegiScan)
Kansas HCR 5014 legislative text (Freedom From Taxes Fund / Kansas Citizens Freedom Review Board). (kslegislature.gov)
Ohio property tax bills sent to Governor DeWine and related reporting. (ohiocapitaljournal.com)
Pennsylvania SB 929 text and memo (proposal to end school property taxes). (palegis.us)
Texas legislative press on HB9 / SB4 / SB23 property tax reforms. (senate.texas.gov)

Here's A New HOA Rule Dictating What You Can Do Inside Your Home

HOA Overreach: When Your Own Home Isn’t Really Your Own The joys of homeownership—the American dream! That magical place where you can paint the walls any color you like, blast your music (within reason), and enjoy the simple pleasure of—wait, never mind..... Turns out, your HOA might have something to say about what you do inside your own four walls. Case in point: A longtime homeowner, who has peacefully lived in his residence for 25 years, was blindsided when his HOA suddenly banned smoking inside individual homes. That’s right—after a quarter-century of no issues, he was informed that lighting up indoors was no longer an option. The new rule, passed at the HOA’s annual meeting by a majority vote, now restricts smoking to a designated outdoor area. Now, while some might see this as a health-conscious decision, the homeowner—whose wife is a smoker—sees it as an unfair overreach. In a letter to a local publication, he expressed frustration, writing, “I’ve live...

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