And should, every year unless it's negligible.
There are many here who can offer more direct ways to do that and maybe even successful arguments.

I owned the house. This was a new house in a new development. Somehow, the as built specs weren't exactly transferred to the assessor's office. Quite a few of my neighbors were in the same spot and also successfully appealed. Unfortunately, a second phase of the same floor plans has been built adjacent to us and are now closing. So there will be 60 some new houses right next to us for the assessor's office to use in setting valuations for my house and the 92 others in our first phase. And the base price for each of the floor plans in the new development was at least $100 grand more than what we paid in the first phase.

My increase in disposable income is in the neighborhood of $30 per month.

But at least I'm not a renter and have a fixed rate mortgage, which I got when rates were really low. That's not to say escrow can't change, of course, It did this year. But some of the issues in the election passed to lower property tax, which may help.

If you do, you'll be extremely disappointed. It never does keep up. I call the SS increase an "offset".

And again, it's the man, sticking it to the normal citizen. Do you think our government will keep up? Think again. With Humpty Dumpty's plans for the next year, we should get hit hard. And of course, it's always "after the fact". IE: Pay me now and we'll discuss it later.

I won't argue with anything else you said but, a common misconception is that when the assessed value (fair market value as determined by your city/town assessor - i.e. the appraiser that works specifically for the taxing body(s)) goes up, your taxes will automatically go up. It actually has nothing to do with your individual property tax burden. The city/town/county operating budgets are set by their governing boards. The budget represents the total amount of expenditures the governing bodies will require for services, capital improvements, schools, etc. The assessment process determines the total equalized value of all real property in the taxing district. Then a mill rate is calculated. The mill rate is a figure representing the amount (think: percentage of) per $1,000 of the assessed value of property, which is used to calculate the amount of property tax owed.

Consider this: if the overall fair market value of all properties goes up, but the operating budget goes down, the mill rate will be adjusted downward and even though the fair market value of your property as determined by the assessor has gone up to reflect the current market value, your taxes will actually go down. This rarely happens though because budgets almost never go down because of general inflation and wage growth, the growth of the cost of services due to population growth, new services and the expansion of existing services, etc. One thing the assessor needs to be very careful of however is that the values do indeed reflect the general real estate market value increases/decreases. Yes, decreases happen. 2008 was a good example but even then, your taxes didn't go down, they simply adjusted the mill rate to meet the overall budget requirements. The other, and in some ways the most important thing the assessor is careful of, is that all properties are considered equally. In other words, if you have a 6 room 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath 1,200 square foot ranch with a full basement and a 2-car attached garage on 1 acre, the person on the other side of the taxing district (city/village/township, etc.) with the a 6 room 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath 1,200 square foot ranch with a full basement and a 2-car attached garage on 1 acre better damn well have the same valuation and be paying the same amount of taxes or, there will be hell to pay! For the assessor…

Of course, there really are no two properties that are exactly the same so adjustments are made for features and amenities and the value or those features and amenities are extracted from the market. We as appraisers for the lending industry do that “by hand” but assessors use (computer) models designed for mass appraisals as they are dealing with what is referred to as “a universe of properties”. They collect specific data points such as overall square footage, number of bedrooms and baths, garage and other car storage capacities, basement rooms and finished area, etc. They also have a quality of construction and property condition rating system (we do too) and the properties get assigned a numerical rating based on those factors too. Finally, the models are “honed” so that the result reflects the sales in the actual real estate market so, assessors spend a great deal of time on that because most states require that ad valorem valuation be no less than 90% of market value. In general, almost all ad valorem fair market values (property values for tax purposes), at any given time, are lower than the actual value of the property.

Sound clear? (sarcasm…)

for a number of years many years ago, so, yes, I understand the process of reassessment.

With each SS increase of a minuscule amount there are at least four entities who expect to receive 60% of it through rate increases and that's not counting the medicare increase. So once there's an increase in income, by the time you've addressed each entity demanding more, you have paid out more than three times what the increase was in the first place.

Only we're all not laughing.

I was surprised I could qualify for a mortgage on this house, but at age 69, I did. So I have a 15 year mortgage at 2.3 % that will be paid off in 2035. My income is 2/3 from SS and a federal pension survivor's benefit. Social Security will go belly up in 2033 if it is not 'fixed' and we all know there is zero chance this incoming administration will do anything to fix it, and is more likely to do something to hasten its demise. I'm already making changes to my budget in order to be able to throw some additional funds toward paying off the mortgage by or before 2033, in case I live that long, because I would be 82 by then.

Your ability to buy a house! I'm only months behind you in age and I never got that far on my own. My state just went full magat so I am planning to reposition myself elsewhere soon. I want to feel safe at the end of it all and be in a place where more options are available for lifestyle needs. It's very survival of the fittest out here in the Rockies and I'm just not up for it anymore, not while flying solo.

So, locally, there are many like minded folks as neighbors, even though the state as a whole is dominated by Republicans. And boy, ever since the gerrymandering after 2010, do they dominate.
The problem is finding an inexpensive blue area, either in a blue state or even a purple one! Where are you thinking of going?

I own this wreck outright. I would love to fix it up some, but it’s hard to do alone. At least it’s a roof over our heads.

A 2% increase on a place valued at $100000 compared to a place costing $1000000 is vastly different.

Seems there ought to be a cap somehow.

They said.

So many of us will have some big choices to make soon.

So many of us are about to lose their savings because of this.

Of course, many of us had nothing to begin with... so we will just be unknown numbers paving the road to greatness for the rich and powerful in this country. We did our part for this nation, but we do not matter to anyone because we have no 'assets', are too far gone to be an asset, and therefore are useless and worthless.

Some of us are already where the rest of you are headed, and have been here for a while now. Any guesses what is going to happen to us going forward?

I believe the term is 'Pauper's Field'... which is where the 'unknown dregs' of society are usually buried. That is where I am headed, since I and many others will no longer be able to fake existing any more and have nothing to financially offset our demises (which seems to be the most important concern these days.)

has been widening for quite a few years now in this country. There is an obscene amount of money concentrated in the hands of the few.

The lack of empathy, of community, of willingness to share beyond an immediate circle of family or friends is more than disappointing, and I don't see a way to change it.

Some of us do what we can to help and are more than aware that it is not enough.

More like the last 40 years. And, we let them do it.

The lack of empathy and community is by design. The wealthy don't want such a mindset to ever regain a hold in our society. They want us at each others' throats. That way, we are not paying attention to them.

Unfortunately, Americans do not willingly change. They have to be forced into it. That sucks, but that has been the case in my 60 years on this planet.

Those who do try to help have not lost their humanity. But, since being humane is not profitable, most choose to let it go.