Homeowners Deal With Rising Property Taxes

Who wants high home value prices?Your local government.Consider this:

But local governments are also wary of cutting back on what they collect - they get more than 95 percent of all property taxes. Altogether, American businesses and home-owners paid $296.7 billion in property taxes in 2002-2003, up from $279.1 billion in 2001-2002, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Those numbers likely climbed even faster recently along with record-high home prices.

Property taxes pay for everything from schools and roads to police and fire departments. While they usually are collected by local governments, states generally write the laws that govern them.

What if home prices don't stay up?AP