this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
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A Boring Dystopia
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Yes, you an come up with edge cases like McMansions next to golf courses, but houses on identical lots right next to each other can have different values and pay different property taxes even though they take the same amount of city services. Remodeling a house, or even just painting it frequently and keeping the yard nicer than others, doesn't make you consume more city services, but it will raise the home's assessed value and property taxes. That's a false link.
Putting a second story on likely includes increasing the number of bedrooms, which theoretically increases the number of people who could be living there and thus increase the burden on city services. Renovating for quality and building additions to the square footage aren't equivalent.
I think lot sizes are still a much bigger factor, though: a house renovated/rebuilt to max out the allowed FAR (floor-area ratio) on a 1/4 acre lot still ought to get taxed less than a modest-sized house on a 2-acre lot.
You don't have to remodel. Just living in an area that becomes more desirable makes your home value go up, and your taxes go up in step with that. I'm not talking about inflation, I'm talking about areas taking turns being the trendy place to live. Just because you've been there for a long time, you pay the same tax on the house you paid $100k for as somebody who buys the house next door for $500k, because their willingness to do that makes your house worth $500 too.