BlockShopper.com reports that Heritage Lake’s effective property tax rate rose from 2.2% in 2016 to 2.8% in 2025, marking a 0.6 percentage point climb over 10 years.
Tazewell County as a whole saw its average effective property tax rate drop from 2.2% in 2016 to 2.1% in 2025, a reduction of 0.1 percentage points in the same timeframe. By 2025, Heritage Lake’s effective rate surpassed the countywide average.
Of 17 cities evaluated in Tazewell County, Heritage Lake recorded the most significant increase in property tax rates throughout the period.
In 2025, the city also had the highest effective property tax rate among Tazewell County’s cities, at 2.8%.
This rate is 3.2 times greater than the 2024 national effective property tax average of 0.888% in the U.S.
According to Redfin data, U.S. home prices continued their upward trend in 2025, with the national median at approximately $447,000 by June. That marks a 1.13% increase over the prior year. There was also a notable imbalance in the market, as sellers outnumbered buyers by 36%—a gap of 508,715 homes. Redfin defines a balanced market as having less than a 10% difference between the number of sellers and buyers.
Even if rates stabilize or drop, rising property values can still lead to higher tax bills. Local property taxes are calculated on both rate and assessed property value: higher home prices expand the tax base and possibly increase the taxes owed despite rate reductions. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy found the average effective property tax rate for a median-valued home in each state’s largest city fell more than 5% from 2023 to 2024, according to its analysis.
Meanwhile, rising home values are expanding tax bases in numerous markets. Because property taxes are calculated from market value, increases in home prices may result in higher tax bills even as local rates remain static or decline. National housing studies show that a 1% increase in median home value tends to correlate with about a 0.71% dip in effective tax rate, indicating robust home price growth often enables lower rates but higher government tax collection.
| Year | Effective Property Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.8% |
| 2024 | 2.2% |
| 2023 | 2.5% |
| 2022 | 2.2% |
| 2021 | 2.3% |
| 2020 | 2.4% |
| 2019 | 3% |
| 2018 | 2.6% |
| 2017 | N/A |
| 2016 | 2.2% |
Data for this report came from BlockShopper.com. The original figures are available here.
