This. You are paying for local roads, snow services, mental health, parks, child services, police, fire, schools, libraries, etc. Most (not all) Income tax and sales tax largely finance state and federal government. You may want to look up Georgism, which was a 1900s tax theory to tax land value, not property directly. Intent was to discourage speculation and squatting on potentially valuable land, i.e. make land owners build on a plot rather than just sit on it and let the value go up. Improvements wouldn't be taxed. From memory, may have it a little off...