A data analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s state and local tax data by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has determined that property owners paid $174 billion in taxes during the first quarter of 2023 and $714 billion in the four quarters ending with this year’s first quarter.
“The year-over-year growth rate of property tax collections is more than twice its 15-year average (6.9% versus 3.3%),” said David Logan, NAHB’s director of trade and tax analysis. “Property taxes accounted for 35.4% of state and local tax receipts in the four quarters ending Q1 2023 after climbing to 34.7% the quarter prior. In terms of the share of total receipts, property taxes were followed by individual income taxes (29.1%), sales taxes (28.3%), and corporate taxes (7.3%).”
Logan added that the “ratio of property tax revenue to total tax revenue from the four sources has been below its pre-housing boom average of 37% for the past five quarters. Compared to single-quarter data in Q1 2022, property and sales tax revenue each increased as a share of the total in the first quarter while the income tax shares (both individual and corporate) each declined.”
Logan also observed that property tax collection has been relatively stable due to the “long-run stability of tangible property values” when compared against non-property tax receipts such as individual and corporate income and sales tax revenues, which fluctuate based on a myriad of economic influences.