re: Property Taxes Doubling - Can't find anything about property tax rates going up

I'm not sure how they do it in Alabama, but most places, you should have rec'd a notice of appraised value. It's possible your assessed value went up, which would mean the prop taxes would go up.

Also, escrow can be affected by many things. You said there was a shortage - if there is, they maybe the increased expenses already happeend and the lender is trying to get their escrow fixed for later years.