You were on the first radio commercial I heard that was about a company who operated a web page on the internet. At the time, I don't think most people even knew what the internet was. Back then, did you think that this kind of advertising would ever amount to anything?

Yes. The taxes are used to fund infrastrucure like sewer systems, parks, and schools in the area. Local things that only an owner of a property in the area (or renter, the taxes get passed on as a relative increase in rent) would use.

Not all states have a property tax, some just have an higher income tax. There are problems and benefits with both systems, but generally the taxpayer pays about the same amount in each.