I did grasp the point. In your example, the buyer is saving a few hundred thousand dollars on the purchase price of a newer home and worrying about a few hundred dollars per month difference in property taxes. If that is the case, homeownership may not be for you.

It is also a temporary situation. If you follow the proper procedures, you MIGHT be able to reduce your BASE tax after a year or two. Of course the entire neighborhood will have to slump in order to get enough comps to make a case. Ultimately, this will lead to lower tax revenues at the state level, which will trigger budget cuts locally. Now you have a nice, new, cheap home but no teachers to fill the big schools that you are paying for with your CFD/Mello Roos payments. Damned if you do, damned if your don’t.

BTW, nobody mentioned assessments because they aren’t taxes. They are on your tax bill but you can’t (legally) deduct them on your income taxes. Most educated buyers realize that those are a fixed cost for a minimum of several years.