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A 92-year-old Pennsylvania woman died in January after prolonged health issues and a nightmarish six-year battle over property taxes. Gloria Gaynor, who was bedridden from illness, accrued $3,500 in unpaid property taxes in 2020. By 2025, she was facing eviction from a company that put a lien on her home after buying the unpaid debt from Delaware County at auction, ABC7 reported.
This stressful scenario is one that strikes fear into the hearts of many retirees, and has led to a growing movement among the baby boomer generation ( those aged 62 to 80) to eliminate their property taxes. Boomers have flooded social media to defend their position, saying that forking over taxes on a home they’ve paid off is basically rent. “We worked our entire lives to retire with no mortgage - which we accomplished.
But it still costs me almost $500 a month in property taxes to be allowed to stay in our home. This is wrong,” one Florida retiree complained. Opponents are quick to point out that key public safety and community services would crumble without property tax funding.
In the U.S., property taxes are a major source of revenue for communities and public services. It doesn’t mean all boomers are happy about them (AFP/Getty) The median U.S. property tax bill is $3,209 , according to homeowner consultancy Ownwell, roughly $267 a month. New Jersey had the highest median tax bill at $8,638, and West Virginia had the lowest at $629, Ownwell reported.
While property taxes are needed by local government to fund public schools , fire and police departments, trash collection and public health programs, the movement to get rid of them for seniors has found political support. Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is a key voice and has pushed a state amendment that will cap property taxes. He eventually hopes to end them altogether.
“Our nation was forged by pioneer patriots who left everything behind and risked their lives for the dream of living in freedom on their own piece of property,” Florida’s Republican Senate President Ben Albritton said in June. “We agree with Governor DeSantis that having to continually pay the government for the right to live on your own property flies in the face of that dream.” Other politicians have called for lower property taxes and eliminating some aspects to make housing more affordable, including Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Republican Representative Nancy Mace, who is leaving Congress in January to return to the private sector, has also shown support.“Seniors should not pay property taxes,” she posted on X in May.
Colonial roots Property taxes go back to ancient history but emerged in the 19th century in the United States, according to the Economic History Association. By the end of the 1800s, 21 states had enacted the version of property taxes we know today - a levy on a home’s estimated value. “Property taxes date back thousands of years,” Jenna Stauffer, a broker with real estate firm Sotheby’s International Realty, told The Independent in an email.
“In the U.S., they became a major source of revenue during colonial times and eventually helped fund communities and public services. While property taxes are needed by local government to fund public schools , fire and police departments, trash collection and public health programs, the movement to get rid of them for seniors has found political support (AFP/Getty) Public opinion of U.S. property taxes has nosedived since 1992 , according to the National Council of State Legislatures. That’s not because of any policy changes, but because home prices have tripled since then, according to federal data.
And, as home values rise, property taxes rise with them. By 2024, taxpayers despised property taxes more than federal income taxes and sales tax, according to a UChicago Harris/AP-NORC Poll survey of 1,024 adults. Some 69 percent of respondents said their property taxes were too high, followed by federal taxes (67 percent) and state sales tax (62 percent), according to the survey.
Funding the fundamentals Today, property taxes play an important role in funding local governments, said Ohio-based real estate attorney Kellie McIvor, who serves as vice president of acquisition at real estate development firm Redwood Living, Inc. “On average across the US, police departments receive about 86% of their funding from property taxes,” McIvor told The Independent in an email. “Schools receive an average of 40 to 60% of a property tax bill.
To a lesser extent, property taxes also fund fire departments, parks [and] local government, including road repair and community centers.” Typically, a mortgage company pays property taxes on the homeowner’s behalf. In some cases, homeowners pay it on their own. When a homeowner pays off their mortgage, they’re still on the hook for property taxes.
And, in many cases, the property tax bill increases over time as the home’s value increases. That has an outsized effect on retirees because they often have a fixed income they cannot increase to match rising expenses. For example, four major U.S. cities people saw property tax bills rise by double digits in 2025, according to housing data firm ATTOM : Memphis: 34 percent Baltimore: 27 percent St.
Louis: 11 percent Houston: 10 percent. “Seniors are in a tough position, with fixed incomes and no certainty about how long their savings need to last,” McIvor said. “Many have limited ability to earn additional income to make up a savings shortfall.” Why boomers should get a break...
The main argument boomers make about abolishing property tax is that many of them have paid off their homes and shouldn’t be on the hook for taxes anymore. “You spent 30 years paying off your mortgage and now you still owe money every year just to stay in your own house?” a user posted on Reddit in June. “If you stop paying you can lose it?
That doesn’t feel like ownership to me.” Florida real estate agent Jon Sterling sympathizes with seniors who want to end property taxes - his argument echoes social media outcry over the levies functioning as “rent” paid to local government. “I like the idea of retirees being free from paying property taxes,” Sterling told The Independent in an email. “They paid taxes their entire lives and shouldn't have to continue paying ‘monthly rent to the county’ for an asset they own.
Considering the very real financial challenges in the Social Security system, eliminating property taxes for seniors would be a winning scenario for those people.” Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been an instrumental figure in the push to add a cap on the property taxes residents pay (AFP/Getty) Social Security’s stability is a real concern among retirees and policymakers. A key funding source for Social Security’s monthly benefit payments is projected to run out in 2032. If that happens, payments could drop by 22 percent , according to the Social Security Administration.
That could further squeeze the fixed income of retired homeowners already paying thousands in property taxes every year. ...and why they shouldn’t Opponents of eliminating property taxes for retirees say that local services would suffer without the income the levies generate. “Police, school, and library budgets would be decimated,” McIvor said. “Fire, park, and local governments, who receive some funding from property taxes, would also face a budget shortfall.
Municipalities would be forced to scramble for alternative funding sources or lose valuable services. That loss of services means program and job cuts.” Property taxes help local governments pay for services like firefighting and police departments (Getty) In some cases, local governments would just find other ways to tax residents, Michigan-based real estate Michael Perna said in an email to The Independent . “The money needs to come from somewhere,” he said.
“Sales tax, income tax, and excise taxes, like taxes on tobacco, alcohol or gas would need to be increased.” While experts state the drawbacks plainly, social media users tend to take a more abrasive approach. “You like driving on a paved street?” a user asked in their reply to a Reddit property tax post. “You like educated kids?
You like drinking/bathing water? You like having police on the streets? All that and more is what your taxes pay for.” A happy medium Some states have managed to find a middle ground between the arguments for and against property taxes.
For example, New York’s Enhanced STAR program grants a property tax exemption on the first $88,500 of a home’s value for those 65 and older who qualify, Jehan Crump-Gibson, managing partner at Michigan-based Great Lakes Legal Group. Michigan allows homeowners to defer their summer property taxes to February 14 without facing penalties or fees, Crump-Gibson said. Florida helps reduce property taxes through a “homestead” exemption for property owners.
It decreases the home’s taxable value by as much as $50,000 , according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
Source: The Independent
