Source of the information is sufficiently credible to be referred to as being rock solid.
I don't think we've ever heard that one before!
So you don't have a source for these numbers. That's cool, we'll just ignore them.
Property taxes in the US don't go to the federal government - they go to municipal government. The lion's share of this income is used by town halls to finance local public education. This means that the rich, living in wealthy neighbourhoods, can finance excellent educations for their children while those in poor areas get third rate educations... preventing social mobility.
In France, local taxes are used to finance infrastructure and services which aren't deemed essential for preserving a social model which (for the time being) still benchmarks itself on the "equality of chances" criteria. These services include libraries, swimming pools, local roads, etc. while education is financed from the state budget.
However, the French system is powerfully redistributive, through the system of perequation : the central government imposes redistribution of the property tax take, in order that levels of public services stay roughly equal everywhere.
Compare this to the USA, where equality of opportunity remains a nice idea. It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
