Even if the rates are identical, the amounts are lower because “unimproved” land has less “fair market value”, humble grampy!
In California, the property taxes also don’t even rise with the value of property generally. So someone newly buying a condo will pay much, much more in property taxes than say someone that holds a vacant lot for decades…like there are in Oakland…where they had to pass a ballot measure to start taxing people for holding onto vacant lots… Which according to you could never exist…cuz of property taxes.