If the value of your property drops, then your property taxes ought to drop too, right?

Perhaps they ought to, but they most likely won't.

That reality is confronting a number of Haverhill residents, who thought the bad news of their declining property values would be offset somewhat by the good news of corresponding declines in their tax bills.

For some of them, that is true. Tax Assessor Steve Gullo said about one-third of local taxpayers would pay less during the coming year. But that is because their property assessments declined more than those of other residents.

The only way for all, or most, property owners to get a reduction in their tax bill would be for the city to spend less money than it did the year before.

What residents need to understand is that their assessment matters only in comparison to other properties. It is possible that a resident's tax bill could drop even if his assessment went up, if the assessment of most other properties in the city went up much more.

The most important number is the bottom line — what the city collects in taxes (the tax levy) every year. That amount can increase by 2.5 percent every year, plus the value of new growth, under the restrictions of Proposition 2 1âÑ2. So, for example, if a city's tax levy was $50 million last year, it can rise to at least $51.25 million this year. If everybody's property values dropped by the exact same amount — say, 10 percent — the city would simply increase the tax rate by whatever percentage necessary to collect that revenue.

Bottom line? The only way to be taxed less is to force government to spend less.

In spite of the current economic woes, that is not happening. So, most Haverhill residents will continue to pay more.