Redlining Maps Were Burned—But the Fundamentals Are Still Taught

Why is this official course from the International Association of Assessing Officers still teaching outdated redlining practices to categorize neighborhoods?

Transparent Accounting, Top StorySeairra SheppardApril 25, 2023redlining, Transparent Local Accounting, race, Race, Neighborhoods, Assessments, Just Accounting for Health

Wealthy Homeowners Are Getting a 45% Discount on Property Taxes

Data from North Carolina points to a nationwide problem: that services may be going unfunded in your community because of flawed processes, sloppy math, and lack of respect for the law in the property tax system.

Transparent Accounting, News, Top StoryJoe MinicozziApril 24, 2023Just Accounting for Health, Transparent Local Accounting, property tax, poverty, Poverty, local finance, public finance, North Carolina

What Algorithms Get Wrong About Taxes (and What Humans Fail To Fix)

In Buncombe, NC, flawed computer formulas are being used to generate thousands of dollars in "tax breaks" for owners of larger, more expensive homes.

Transparent Accounting, Top StorySeairra SheppardMarch 15, 2023Just Accounting for Health, Transparent Local Accounting, property tax, North Carolina, local finance

Buncombe County Has the Conversation No One Wants to Have: Property Taxes

All over the U.S., studies have shed light on how much residents in lower-valued homes are being overassessed on property taxes. Now, Buncombe County, NC, is offering residents a space to appeal their assessments.

Sheppard, Transparent Accounting, Urban3, Top Story, NewsSeairra SheppardFebruary 2, 2023finance, tax revenue, tax exemption, property tax, Transparent Local Accounting, Urban3, Just Accounting for Health

Northside Neighborhood in NC Reduced Property Tax Values by $7 Million

Neighbors in Chapel Hill, NC, mobilized to raise awareness of property tax inequities within their community…and ultimately brought about a $7-million reduction in home assessed values.

#DotheMath, Finance, Sheppard, Top Story, News, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardNovember 29, 2022local finance, property tax, Just Accounting for Health, Transparent Local Accounting, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, North Carolina, #DoTheMath

Check Your Temperature—You Might Have an Assessment Fever

This new interactive map shows homeowners how their home assessment compares to other properties nearby—and has exposed that many homes of similar value are being overassessed.

Sheppard, Housing, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardOctober 18, 2022homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, property tax, Just Accounting for Health, Transparent Local Accounting, mapping, maps, #DoTheMath

The Pillaging of Detroit

Stunning new data analysis on the homes lost to tax forfeiture in Detroit shows that, in just a three-year span, $300 million in real estate transferred from homeowners living in Detroit to outside owners.

Finance, Housing, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardSeptember 20, 2022Detroit, Michigan, property tax, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, poverty, Poverty, local government, Transparent Local Accounting, Just Accounting for Health

Main Street vs. Big Box Stores: A Western North Carolina Analysis

Property taxes represent the largest source of revenue for most local governments, and data shows that even unglamorous downtown areas offer more value as taxable properties than big box stores.

Mansion Blight: How the Most Expensive Homes Drain Community Wealth

Mansions on large lots, not rundown properties in low-socioeconomic-status neighborhoods, are the real blight on a community’s financial health.

Can America’s Unfair Property Tax System Ever Be Fixed?

Strong Towns interviews Dr. Christopher Berry, of the University of Chicago, on how we can begin making meaningful changes to the U.S.’s broken property tax system.

“Bias Writ Large” in the Property Tax Assessment System

There are some obvious anomalies that are being overlooked in the property tax assessment system. Joe Minicozzi of Urban3 pulls back the curtain in this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast.

"Should I Protest My Property Taxes?"

The process for appealing your property taxes can be obscure, even when the appeal is merited (and more often than not, it is). This simple guide will help prepare you for when your property is next assessed.

In Buncombe County, NC, Billions of Dollars of Home Value Go Untaxed

As an ad hoc committee recently discovered, owners of higher-valued properties are more likely to receive a tax break…simply because of bad data.

Why You Should Care About Property Taxes as a Renter

If you don’t own a home, and don’t have plans to own one anytime soon, you might think property taxes don’t concern you. But, what if we told you that they definitely do?

Finance, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardJune 28, 2022Just Accounting for Health, tax revenue, tax base, Tax Base, property tax, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, rent, renters, finance, local finance, Transparent Local Accounting

We Don’t Like These Curves: What Is the J-Curve and What Is It Costing You?

These curves are costing Americans a lot, both financially and physically.

Finance, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardJune 21, 2022Just Accounting for Health, homeowners, Homeownership, property tax, tax revenue, finance

To Address the Housing Crisis, We Need a Fairer Tax System

Two charts illustrate the massive housing shortage in Buncombe County, NC, and show why we need to get property taxes right.

Housing, Sheppard, Urban3, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardMay 17, 2022housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing affordability, Housing, housing cost, tax revenue, Just Accounting for Health, Urban3

Should Airbnbs Be Taxed as Residential or Commercial?

How have we come to the conclusion that most short-term rentals are taxed as “residential,” when many have no residents?

Housing, Sheppard, Urban3, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardMay 10, 2022Just Accounting for Health, Urban3, airbnb, property tax, tax revenue, homeowners, Homeownership, North Carolina, housing, housing market

It Isn’t Just Us, the Entire Nation Is Burdened With Property Tax Inequities

Recently, the North Carolina Ad Hoc Appraisals Committee was challenged to face their own biases and fix their broken property tax assessment system. Here’s what happened.