@vaporous_ford tldr: if govt makes them pay more then there's more dollars in the pot so budget balances w less money from you... also if they're paying more they're more likely to vote for lower taxes & less spending details vary by state... but your tax each year is calculated from an assessed value * tax rate (or maybe various rates for land / building; plus oth limits & tax relief & surcharges...); there's a process for updating assessments, and a process for disputing the assessment and getting extra review and maybe adjustment, the dispute usually involves comparing properties w similar attributes but different assessments to argue they should be assessed the same so you might argue that your assessment is too high vs your neighbor w same model of house, and they review and decide no, your neighbor's assessment is too low and make your neighbor pay more (depending on jurisdiction the rules are quite variable)