The johnson family pays $1,320
per year for property tax. the tax is
divided into monthly payments and
included with their house payment.
their monthly house payment is
$862 before the tax. what is their
monthly payment with the tax?

So you know that they pay $1320 on tax per year, but you want to know how much tax they pay per month. So we divide this number by 12 which is how many months are in one year. That gives you $110 they are spending on tax per month. Their monthly house payment is $862, so we add in the tax. $862+$110. This gives you $972 which is your final answer.