When Do We Truly Own Anything? The Property Tax Scheme That Keeps Us Paying Forever
16th October 2025
Texas is famous for its wide-open land, its independence, and its promise of freedom. Yet the truth is that Texans pay some of the highest property tax rates in the country. The state itself doesn’t collect property tax, but local governments make up for it many times over. Even with agricultural and wildlife exemptions, the real burden still falls on commercial buildings, apartment complexes, and single-family homes—the very places where most people live and work.
Better than an income tax.
Every year, I write a check for twenty-four thousand dollars in property taxes. In Texas, over half of that typically goes toward public education—sometimes up to 70 percent in certain counties. The irony is that none of it goes toward educating my own children.
I pay about the same, and I don’t even have any children. At least property taxes are under local control, unlike a state income tax.
That means I never truly own my home. The government can raise taxes whenever it wants, and if I can’t pay, it can take the property away.
That applies to your labor as well. The government can, at any time, take the majority of your earnings as a tax of some kind, and they can put you in prison if you don’t pay. Does that mean you don’t truly own your own body? Some have argued so.
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