It seems intuitive that when property values go up, taxes will go up; and when property values go down, taxes will go down. Actually, the taxes you pay are determined by the taxing districts that provide you services, such as fire and police protection, schools, parks, and roads. When the costs of providing these services go up, so do the budgets of the taxing district…but not beyond the 1% growth allowed.

Another reason your property taxes may have increased is that your portion of the taxes collected has gone up. That is, you are paying a greater share of the taxes than you did in the previous year. This is caused by some properties changing values at a different rate or in a different direction than others.