If your property tax bill has been climbing steadily over the past few years, you’re not alone—and you’re not imagining things. There’s a direct connection between the corporate tax cuts Republicans championed and the rising burden on homeowners across America. It’s a classic shell game: cut taxes for corporations, then watch as local communities scramble to make up the difference by raising property taxes and fees on working families.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, causing corporate tax revenue to plummet by 31% in just one year—from $297 billion in 2017 to $204 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, corporate taxes as a share of our economy dropped to just 1% of GDP, near historic lows.
But here’s the kicker: when federal revenue disappears, the need for public services doesn’t. Roads still need fixing, schools still need funding, and police and fire departments still need equipment. So who picks up the tab? You do—through your property taxes, municipal fees, and local service charges.
Since 2017, property taxes have increased by an average of 3.1% annually, while local fees and charges have jumped 4.2% per year. That’s not inflation—that’s cost-shifting from corporate boardrooms to your kitchen table.
How the Shell Game Works
The mechanism is straightforward but deliberately obscured. When corporations pay less in federal taxes, there’s less money available for federal grants that support local communities. Community Development Block Grants have been slashed by over 20% since 2010. Transportation funding increasingly falls on local governments. Education gaps force greater reliance on property taxes.
Take Texas as an example. The state famously has no corporate income tax, but homeowners pay the highest property taxes in the nation—an average of $3,797 annually. Meanwhile, companies like Amazon paid zero federal income tax in 2017 and 2018 despite earning $11 billion in profits, while simultaneously receiving over $4 billion in local tax breaks.
The Double Standard in Your Neighborhood
Here’s the math that should make every homeowner furious: middle-class families now often pay higher effective tax rates than the corporations in their own communities. While the corporate tax rate dropped to 21% on paper, the actual effective rate corporations pay averages just 9.6%. Meanwhile, when you factor in property taxes, local fees, and other charges, many homeowners are paying effective rates of 15% or more of their home’s value over time.
It gets worse. Twenty-three percent of large profitable corporations paid zero federal income tax between 2020-2022, yet these same companies benefit from local infrastructure, educated workforces, and public safety services that property taxpayers fund.
Real Consequences for Real Families
This isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet—it’s about your family’s budget. In Ohio, school districts have been forced to pass emergency property tax levies after federal funding cuts, increasing costs by an average of $400 per household. In Florida and Texas, similar emergency measures have pushed property tax bills even higher.
Municipal governments are caught in the squeeze too. Forty-three percent of cities report fiscal stress due to federal funding cuts, and municipal credit ratings have been downgraded in 15 states since 2020. The result? Deferred maintenance on roads, bridges, and water systems that will cost even more to fix later.
The Path Forward
The solution isn’t complicated, but it requires political will. We need to restore corporate tax rates to levels that ensure big companies pay their fair share for the infrastructure and services they rely on. Sixty-seven percent of Americans believe corporations pay too little in taxes, and 58% support higher corporate taxes to fund infrastructure.
Yet Republicans in Congress are planning to make these corporate tax cuts permanent, which would cost an additional $400 billion over the next decade—with no corresponding increase in federal support for the local services you depend on.
Your Move
Every time you write a check for property taxes that have increased faster than your income, remember: this isn’t just the natural order of things. It’s the result of deliberate policy choices that prioritize corporate profits over working families.
The next time politicians talk about “tax relief,” ask them whose taxes they’re cutting and who’s going to pay the bill. Because in the Republican tax shell game, the house always wins—and working families always lose.
Your property tax bill is a receipt for corporate tax cuts you never voted for. It’s time to demand better from our representatives, because the only way this shell game ends is when we stop playing along.