One of the go-to arguments of the anti-tax camp is that high and growing property tax burdens are forcing lots of elderly people out of the homes they have lived in for decades. Well, according to a new study by Prof. Andy Reschovsky of UW’s La Follette School of Public Affairs and economists Rebecca Boldt and Bradley Caruth of the WI Department of Revenue , that doesn’t happen much at all.
While property taxes can mean economic hardship for some elderly homeowners, they are not being forced to move in large numbers as a result. The study found only a small increase in the probability of moving among older homeowners whose property taxes went up a lot. Among younger households, the impact was practically nonexistent.
Among all homeowners statewide, one in 1,600 homeowners chose to move in 2005 because of an above-average increase in property taxes. Of the 389 homeowners who moved, 85 were older than 79. The researchers conclude that while property taxes can certainly make things more difficult for some homeowners, particularly elderly homeowners, they have little effect on people’s decisions to move. Like many other myths about taxes in Wisconsin, the notion that large numbers of state residents are being “taxed out of their homes” appears to be erroneous.
