What is your argument? Someone who would buy that house today would have to pay the full property taxes on that valuation. The problem lies with those who bought houses for cheap 20-30 years ago and are just sitting on their overpriced properties without having to pay their fair share of property taxes. This of course leads to an inflation in house prices since people don't have to pay higher taxes when the value of their home goes up and thus they face no pressure to sell their house when prices go up. If property taxes went up with property valuations, many would be forced to sell their house which would in effect "correct" the inflation in house prices we saw in California.