NATIONAL

The Luxury Home Market Confronts Its New Reality: Not Enough Buyers and Sellers
WSJ
When Joan Dangerfield, wife of the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, first walked into her Los Angeles home in the early 2000s, she knew immediately that she would buy it. The Art Deco-style estate, perched in the coveted Bird Streets above L.A.'s Sunset Strip, had dramatic views spanning downtown Los Angeles to the ocean and Catalina Island. 

How the pandemic shifted the geography of income
AXIOS
When millions of Americans rethought their living situations during the pandemic, their moves changed the geography of where money is made in the United States. Why it matters: A new analysis of tax data by the Economic Innovation Group, shared first with Axios, quantifies the reasons some of America's biggest cities are struggling to rebuild their economies post-pandemic.

Charted: Office demolitions accelerate
AXIOS
Developers demolished more offices than they built in the first half of 2023. Why it matters: New data from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) shows how commercial real estate is still reeling from the sudden spike in remote work during the pandemic. By the numbers: Crews razed 14.7 million square feet of office space in the first half of the year while breaking ground on only 4.8 million square feet, according to JLL.

Sun Sets On Sun Belt: Multifamily Execs Say The Coasts Are New Apartment Industry Golden Child
BisNow
The consensus around which regions offer the most promising returns for multifamily developers is beginning to shift as supply inflates in the Sun Belt and coastal-based companies demand their employees return to the office.

INDIANA

Pitney Bowes tax break terminated by Greenwood council following layoff news
Daily Journal
The Greenwood City Council unanimously voted 8-0 — with one member absent — Monday night to terminate the remaining years of the tax abatement given to Pitney Bowes Inc., a Stamford, Connecticut-based global high-tech shipping company. A public hearing was held on the termination, but no one from the public or the company spoke during the hearing.

MISSISSIPPI

‘A night in the hot tub': Testimony begins in sexual battery trial for Rankin County tax assessor
WLBT
Nearly a year after he was indicted on three counts of sexual battery, Rankin County Tax Assessor John Sullivan found himself in a courtroom surrounded by a jury of his peers, his attorney arguing the sex was consensual, and the victim was lying. Merrida Coxwell told the jurors — two of whom are female — that the type of sexual battery Sullivan is charged with relies on the presumption that the victim is physically helpless and said surveillance video from Sullivan's house will disprove that claim.

NEW YORK

Auburn Reaches Settlement with Walgreens over Tax Assessment
Finger Lakes Daily News
A settlement agreement has been reached between the City of Auburn and Walgreens and Rite Aid over a tax dispute on three properties within the city. City Council voted on Thursday to pay a $133,000 rebate to the pharmaceutical companies. While ultimately voting to accept the settlement, Councilor Jimmy Giannettino said he was not happy. 

NORTH CAROLINA

‘Assessment gap' cited in review of 18 western counties
thecentersquare.com
The analysis was conducted by a coalition known as Just Accounting for Health, which includes the nonprofit Strong Towns, the University of North Carolina Asheville, and Urban 3, a data analytics firm, with $850,000 in funding from the Dogwood Health Trust.

TEXAS

Dallas-Fort Worth is America's new boomtown: Texas region added more than 170,000 new residents between 2021 and 2022
Daily Mails
Dallas-Fort Worth is the fastest growing metro area in the US, having added more than 170,000 people between 2021 and 2022. Migration to the area is being driven largely by the relocation of businesses which reported that 265 have made the move since 2020. Dallas and Forth Worth are the 9th and 13th largest cities in the country, with populations of approximately 1.3 and 1 million respectively.

Proposed Fort Worth budget includes largest property tax rate cut in decades, funding for more police
Fox4
The City of Fort Worth released its proposed budget for the next fiscal year on Tuesday morning. The budget includes more fire and police as well as the biggest property tax rate cut in decades. The city says that the recommended budget reflects Fort Worth as one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

Tax rate could increase nearly 3% in upcoming City of Lubbock budget
Lubbock Online
The City of Lubbock's property tax rate could go up by nearly 3% in the coming fiscal year after the City Council set a tax hike ceiling during a regular meeting Tuesday afternoon. City Manager Jarrett Atkinson presented a few changes Tuesday to the budget that was presented last week, including an adjusted fiscal year 2024 property tax rate, proposed at 48.0164 cents per $100 property valuation.

Commissioners Court Proposes Lowest Tax Rate Since 1884
San Angelo 
Tom Green County Commissioners Tuesday morning proposed one of the lowest property tax rates since 1884. According to Tom Green County Pct. 3 Commissioner Rick Bacon, the property tax rate in the 1880s when the county was established was .50 cents per $100 in property value. The proposed rate for FY2024 for Tom Green County is .47290.