Budget & Tax

Spotlight on taxes: property tax

April 5, 2023

Curtis Shelton

As I pointed out in my previous posts in this series, Oklahomans pay many different taxes—income tax, sales tax, gasoline tax, insurance premium tax, excise tax, and many more. Today let’s consider the property tax. Property taxes are the third-largest revenue generator for state and local taxes in Oklahoma, behind income and sales taxes. Property tax collections make up 22 percent of the $21 billion in state and local tax collections. In 2022, local property tax collections were $4.66 billion. That’s $1,160 per capita or roughly $4,638 for a family of four.

Local property taxes are a great example of how, whether you bear the direct burden or not, taxation is felt by everyone. For example, while renters may not pay property taxes themselves, every landlord is baking the cost of property taxes into the cost of rent. Likewise, every farmer or rancher is accounting for the property tax costs on their land and equipment. Consumers see those costs in higher prices of food.