Abolish property taxes

Editor's note: The case for abolishing property taxes in the US rests on several interlocking arguments: property taxes impose a burdensome and unpredictable cost on homeowners, distort housing markets and affordability, and create incentives for over-valuation and inefficient public debt. Because local governments rely heavily on property tax revenue, appraisal districts and taxing entities can inflate valuations (or maintain aggressive tax burdens) in ways that outpace real income growth and inflate housing costs—effectively stripping equity from homeowners. A system built on taxing an illiquid asset (your home) can trap individuals in high tax burdens even when their incomes don't increase, while the public funding model encourages governments to push for ever-higher valuations rather than more efficient spending. By replacing property tax with a more transparent, consumption-based tax (for example a uniform sales tax), the burden shifts from the fixed asset you already own to transactions you make—and the local government incentive to inflate values is removed. In short: property taxes are unfair, inefficient, volatility-prone, and enable local government overreach like this case in Arizona—thus abolition (and major reform) is justified and long overdo.

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Town furious after being 'duped' into 89% property tax increase to fund $80M indoor football stadium

'I would challenge anyone who thinks we don't need the stadium to be out on that field when it's 115 [degrees],' the superintendent said in defense of the project

By Kelly Rissman | November 3, 2025

Residents of an Arizona city are up in arms, claiming that they unknowingly agreed to an 89 percent property tax hike to fund an $80 million high school football stadium.

Last year, Arizona voters approved a $125 million school improvement bond for the Tolleson Union High School District. But residents have complained about the lack of transparency around the bond, claiming they were unaware that the money was going toward building the indoor football stadium, which would be the first in Maricopa County, 12News reported.

The school district Superintendent, Jeremy Calles, has championed the project.

"I would challenge anyone who thinks we don't need the stadium to be out on that field when it's 115 [degrees] and you're playing on turf in 115 degree weather," Calles said last month. "If there is any state that should have more dome stadiums, if there is any county that should have more dome stadiums than zero, it is definitely this one."

At the last school board meeting on October 14, locals complained about the recent property tax increase. Vincent Moreno, a former Tolleson Union board member, said his property tax bill skyrocketed by 89 percent — or $215 — to fund the school district bond. Moreno shared his property tax bill with 12News.

"Nowhere in this publication does it say I'm going to pay 89 percent more next year," Moreno told the board, 12News reported. Moreno told the outlet that he didn't recall references to the stadium project at past meetings.

"The estimated average annual tax rate for the proposed bond authorization is $0.34 per $100 of net assessed valuation used for secondary property tax purposes," a notice for last year’s election read under the school improvement bond's description.

The Independent has contacted Calles and the school board president for comment.

Please go to the The Independent to continue reading.

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