NATIONAL
Governments Are Still Stealing People's Home Equity Over Modest Tax Debts

Reason

Sometimes politicians steal people's homes. Really. If homeowners miss property tax payments, even if they never received the bills, some towns grab the whole house and keep the proceeds. All the proceeds. Even if the total is much more than the property tax owed. I reported on this (mal)practice a couple years ago.

GEORGIA
Georgia Justices Decline to Review Property Tax Class Action

Bloomberg Tax

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday decided not to evaluate a lower court's decision to grant certification to a group of taxpayers who accused Fulton County of using an illegal method to assess property taxes. The property owners alleged that Fulton County and several of its encompassing the cities, including Atlanta, violated the state's uniformity law…

INDIANA
How did we get here? Historical analysis of property tax reform seeks answers

Indiana Capital Chronicle

A flurry of property tax proposals geared toward reform following an uptick in prices closely mirrors trends from the last fifty years in which such increases bring systemic changes, according to new analysis from Larry DeBoer, a retired agricultural economics professor from Purdue University.

MAINE
Bath residents see a significant jump in tax bills

Press Herald

Bath residents are feeling the pinch from the recent increases in their property tax bills, which were mailed the second week of September. “I didn't know the reason why [my tax bill] went up,” said Bath resident Cheryl Young. “All I know is it just keeps going up, and I don't know what we are going to do.”

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston mayor’s commercial tax rate plan clears the House, but hits a wall in the Senate

MSN

The bill was required to be approved with no changes in language, but it was cleared by the House with the understanding that the mayor would sign an executive order, should the state pass it into law, that would provide tax relief for small businesses and limit the scope and length of her initial proposal — a last-minute agreement that was dismissed by the Senate president as unserious.

MICHIGAN
Michigan church can’t be exempt from taxes on recreation property, appeals court rules

Christian Post

An appeals court has ruled that a multisite Evangelical church in Michigan cannot be exempt from paying taxes on a property meant to serve as a retreat and recreation space. Woodside Bible Church filed a complaint against the Township of Forester over whether a property they purchased in 2016 along the banks of Lake Huron, which was known as “The Lodge,” should be taxed.

PENNSYLVANIA
Philly releases open data on property tax delinquencies

Phila.gov

A new dataset from the Philadelphia Department of Revenue shows properties with tax delinquencies in a new, simpler format. You can access this data on OpenDataPhilly. Delinquencies are now broken down by zip code, council district, and census tract for easy understanding. A Philly property tax account is delinquent if Real Estate Tax isn't paid by January 1 the following year after the tax was due.