Little Hawk, it's not your property tax rate, that is set by the local government. The amount you pay can be appealed - if they keep reporting to you that the market value of your house has gone up $40,000 in the last year, and did the same thing the year before, you can go in and say "No way! My house needs work, here is the appraisal for XYZ job, I couldn't sell it for anything near your market value" (in my case, I attached a $15,000 estimate for a foundation repair, and then all of the stuff in the house that needs fixing, like cracked floor tile, because of the shifting foundation). This year they didn't raise the market value. And this year I am able to freeze the rate; one of the few perks so far about becoming an official "senior citizen."

Back to the BS (though one could argue that much of modern governmental operation is a rarefied form of BS).