If you plan on owning a home in the future, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the term assessed value.  The assessed value of your home will determine how much you pay in property taxes.

This week’s Math in the News article from the Evansville Courier and Press mentions how the property tax rate, which is determined by the assessed value of a home, can sometimes lead to budget deficits for local governments.  According to the article, a 1-percent cap has been placed on property taxes for the state of Indiana.  This means that even if a municipality has a property tax rate that is higher than 1%, residents will still only be taxed at 1%, which leads to less revenue for that municipality, resulting in a potential budget deficit.

Do you think it is fair that a state can impose a cap on property tax rates, or should it be left up to the municipality to decide the overall tax rate?