Save the City

When Sprawl Wins, Cities Lose

2007-01-31T12:09:00.000-05:00

For about 10 years, Oil City, Pennsylvania used a land value tax, and it helped stave off decline after the Pennsylvania oil industry collapsed.

Indeed, after adoption of LVT building permits ticked upwards and then surpassed neighboring towns like Franklin. Taxes for most homeowners declined, so the stability provided by LVT was welcome.

Then, Venango County, reassessed and like Pittsburgh in 2001, the county pressured Oil City to use a "unified" tax rate and dump LVT.

In one fell swoop, Oil City went from having a competitive tax rate on buildings and construction, to the highest in the county! Go Team!

2006 Millages*
District	School District	County	Municipal	School
ALLEGHENY TWP	TITUSVILLE AREA S/D	5.565	0.826	12.480
BARKEYVILLE	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	1.900	17.000
CANAL TWP	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	0.920	17.000
CHERRYTREE TWP	TITUSVILLE AREA S/D	5.565	4.000	12.480
CITY OF FRANKLIN	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	8.800	17.000
CITY OF OIL CITY	OIL CITY AREA S/D	5.565	9.600	16.610
CLINTON TWP	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	0.453	17.000
CLINTONVILLE	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	1.099	17.000
COOPERSTOWN	VALLEY GROVE S/D	5.565	2.417	10.773
CORNPLANTER	OIL CITY AREA S/D	5.565	3.100	16.610
CRANBERRY TWP	CRANBERRY AREA S/D	5.565	1.940	11.950
EMLENTON BORO	ALLEG/CLARION S/D	5.565	4.812	9.600
FRENCHCREEK	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	0.900	17.000
IRWIN TWP	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	0.190	17.000
JACKSON TWP	VALLEY GROVE S/D	5.565	0.550	10.773
MINERAL TWP	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	0.568	17.000
OAKLAND TWP	OIL CITY AREA S/D	5.565	0.990	16.610
OILCREEK TWP	TITUSVILLE AREA S/D	5.565	1.148	12.480
PINEGROVE TWP	CRANBERRY AREA S/D	5.565	0.900	11.950
PLEASANTVILLE	TITUSVILLE AREA S/D	5.565	2.370	12.480
PLUM TWP	PENNCREST S/D	5.565	0.370	12.430
POLK BORO	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	3.242	17.000
PRESIDENT TWP	FOREST AREA S/D	5.565	0.679	7.890
PRESIDENT TWP	OIL CITY AREA S/D	5.565	0.679	16.610
RICHLAND TWP	ALLEG/CLARION S/D	5.565	0.813	9.600
ROCKLAND TWP	CRANBERRY AREA S/D	5.565	1.030	11.950
ROUSEVILLE	OIL CITY AREA S/D	5.565	6.110	16.610
SANDYCREEK TWP	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	1.392	17.000
SCRUBGRASS TWP	ALLEG/CLARION S/D	5.565	0.595	9.600
SUGARCREEK	VALLEY GROVE S/D	5.565	3.540	10.773
UTICA BORO	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	1.500	17.000
VICTORY TWP	FRANKLIN AREA S/D	5.565	1.199	17.000

*Courtesy Venango County Assessment Department

And The Winner Is....

Cranberry Township. You'll note from the chart how low its taxes are. So, when growth happens in an isolated pocket of a state that is undergoing entropy, it isn't going to happen INSIDE the city.

The local newspaper - the wonderfully named Derrick - just showed how much growth is taking off in the townships, while non-growth in Oil City is the order of the day.

Considering how much of Oil City is already tax-exempt from social services, hospitals, colleges and the like, I can only sing the Bee Gees lament "Tragedy"

New Projects for Land Value Taxation

2007-01-31T11:50:00.000-05:00

Penndel Borough is a smallish town north of Philly and South of Trenton. It's part of a long-moribund industrial and commercial corridor that marked US-1.

When the Interstates took over our lives, the hotels, diners and other relics of our 1920-1940s early love affair with highways faded. Penndel is no different. the frontage of route 1 is now filled with lots of truck and auto-oriented businesses and many abandoned industrial sites. Penndel, like many other smaller towns with no particular charms for yuppy saviors is struggling fiscally and demographically; it is aging.

CSE - the little foundation I direct - was contacted by a local businessman who senses that increasing the local wage tax might not be a good idea. We couldn't agree more, so we are doing a study next month.

The rub? Bucks County hasn't done a reassessment since the early 1970s! That's routine in Pennsylvania; it gives the newer parts of a county a real advantage in low values, while poorer and older parts of a county get overcharged.

So, the numbers might be useless...

Vermont Churches and Land Taxation

2007-01-12T15:24:00.000-05:00

Time for me to say "sorry" to Vermont. After the bonehead story about taxing "supersize" homes, I blithely assumed that Vermont would remain in my mind as a cutesy place where the natives are driven into the hills, and candle dippin' hippies that are worth a million bucks rule the roost. Even my mellow girlfriend almost broke into hives when we had lunch in Bennington once.

The only place I can think of that would get away with a proposal to tax the property of churches IS Vermont. The Vermont idea is a good one, as it proposes to tax church lands. Now, I know that sounds like Henry the VIIIth and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but t' isn't,

Barre Vermont, needs money. They've floated a few things, all of which failed. Now, they are floating a tax on previously exempt land.
Naturally it's being called a "church tax" even though church stuff takes place in buildings.

They tried to pass a constitutional amendment in Colorado to tax non-profit property, it died at the hands of the voters. I bet this doesn't pan out, because the opposition loves to threaten the loss of The Lord due to taxes, and proponents are either scared of parishioners, or they are those militant-style atheists that everyone feels sorta creepy about.

Why Use a Flyswatter When You Can Use a Nuke?

2007-01-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

Thanks to way-cool Matt Stillman for a heads up on some lawmakers up in Vermont who know the power of government and they are WAY ready to use it!

A new state law being proposed - but not yet introduced by Rep. Tony Klein - would impose a $1,000 per square foot "surcharge" for new home construction over 4,000 square feet. Another bill proposed will add a tax, OOPS no, a "fee" of 1% of the price of the house (Construction price? Sales price? The language doesn't say).

To quote the article from the Barre Times Argus

"The concept is to put in place incentives for building well-insulated buildings for homes and businesses," [Senator Lyons] Lyons said. "This kind of policy is the kind of policy I think we will be talking about over the next couple of years."Both bills, if made into law, would regulate the connection to the energy grid each new home needs, unless it relies entirely on its own power sources, such as wind or solar power.

In the immortal words of Casey Stengel "Now Wait a Minute."

First off, I (mis)spent some winters in Chester Depot and in the proud old, Yankee farmhouse of 1,500 square feet you couldn't keep a candle lit because of the draft. How come they don't have to pay for energy-efficiency?

Second, I guarantee that the opportunities for graft will abound. If, as the legislators complain, these are houses built by rich out-of-staters, then imagine a bond trader from Manhattan laying out a couple of hundred bucks to persuade the building inspector to certify that the new Schloss is in fact 3,999 square feet.

Third, if a tax on the biggest homes happens, SOMEone will wonder why we don't put a "fee" on simply bigger homes. I can hear it now: "3,000 square feet? The greedy bastards!"

Fourth, a change in tax policy, rather than command-and-control from the state will help all homes be more affordable and energy-efficient, old or new, native or carpetbagger. Untax all buildings, tax the land instead. Better use of land is an inevitable result, with more compact housing, and an incentive to put in the features everyone wants, not just the holidaying rich people.

Fifth, I'd lose my membership in the Irony Union, if I didn't tell you that both of
the legislative sponsors aren't from Vermont, but were born in New York State.

Friends, it's a solution looking for a problem. Out.

A Voice for Land Value Tax in Iowa

2007-01-09T14:54:00.000-05:00

A few years back, I attended a conference in Des Moines,Iowa that tried to arouse interest in Land Value Taxation.
Well, it didn't work. One of my Board members Dr. Bill Batt , put together a persuasive report highlighting the concentration of land values where the city of Des Moines was emptying out, and demonstrating development taking place where land values were relatively low (cool graphics below). Unfortunately, it was a one day event, and the politicians stumbled off forgetting all about LVT.

So, imagine my shock when todays Des Moines Register published a smart letter about LVT. Naturally, I chimed in. We need more chimes, to make a carillon of truth. Or something. Thank you Clark Rieke!

Everything's Gone Green?

2007-01-08T15:09:00.000-05:00

The Scottish Green Party is a refreshing alternative to the business as usual that's plagued Scotland since devolution started. New ideas ferment like malted barley.

Unlike many US Green Parties, command and control socialism is rejected in favor of a sensible communitarian-based economics that acknowledges the creativity and strength of the individual while ensuring there is a reservoir of revenue to maintain civilization.

I only say this because the SGP supports LVT like many Green Parties sensibly do,
Such as the Canadian Greens ...
Or the Irish Greens...
Or the Australian Greens...

If I had the brains to be fluent in another language, I bet it'd be more, but you GET THE POINT!
If any reader knows the positions of other Green Parties, let me know.

Tell Me What's the Word? Johannesburg

2007-01-08T14:21:00.000-05:00

One City, One Choice, One Cock Up: Decay or Hope

One Upon a Time, Johannesburg (Jo-Burg in cool talk) had a land value tax that was the envy of - if not the world - me. A city with little natural wealth or locational advantages became an economic and finance powerhouse, while sweet and sylvan Cape Town had always languished.

As Professor Mason Gaffney wrote, Jo-Burg by any objective measure prospered under LVT.

Now, after the adoption of morally essential political change, South Africa is seeking to transform its economy to an inclusive and open one. Yet, with government tax and finance policy they really screwed it up big time.

Of course, it took foreign experts to really put a truncheon to Jo-burg's opportunity. The South African government now proudly mandates taxes on land and buildings, just like the Americans and Europeans told them to, so the introduction of the "new" property tax has taxpayers of all stripes nervous and scared, as the article indicates

In a classic case of officials worried about taxpayer backlash (you can almost smell the sweat of fear in the article), they are shovelling platitudes very quickly indeed:

Said Council spokesman Virgil James: “It would be unfair and incorrect to speculate on what it will cost ratepayers before the city has even determined the tax base and tax rate,” he said.

Well, call me unfair, but I bet I'm not incorrect: By taxing their houses for the first time in 100 years, the Jo-Burg government are going to tax the poor and working class citizens of Jo-burg heavily and unfairly. Land speculators and the rich will be very happy. Land ownership will again concentrate to the few.

Jo-Burg will start to empty,start to decay and become impoverished, just as South Africa got a handle on their crime problem and after the promise of a new day after apartheid. Sad.

Local Government Funding in the UK: Trip, Stumble and Fall?

2007-01-08T13:03:00.000-05:00

I have quite a few pals in the UK, who are trying hard to get the word out about LVT. Naturally, it isn't easy. The Tories think that land value taxes are unfair to the Duke of Westminsters of the world, a relic knee-jerk from the threat that Churchill and Lloyd George's People's Budget 0f 1910 posed. During that bloodletting, the Lords gave up their power of the purse, rather than give up their private land rent.
Labour, or at least New Labour, contends that the land value tax is quaint, like (ha ha ha) the window tax of yore. Nothing like sniggering yuppies to put the country on the right track!

Yet, the winds of change are buffeting the somnolent minds of Britain. Today's Guardian
has a great bit of commentary by Ashley Seager, the Guardian's Economics Correspondent. titled A Land Tax is 200 Years Overdue. Amen.

Also, The Daily Mail - which seems to specialize in expressing the "we can't take it any more" segment of the British population - leads with a Labour scheme to change local council ratings (the local property tax to Americans) from a vague banding system of value to one based on frequent reassessments, the better to snatch value from improvements to property.

As Paul Weller used to shout "Oi!" The worst way to reform a property tax is to tax more of what we want people to do: fix up, build and invest in new homes. Already, council tax rewards unused and vacant buildings. this new twist will discourage use and reuse of property further.
Stories like this are popping up all over the UK, and everyone should read them and contribute. I managed to get a comment into the readers' forum...

Oi! All over the country
(We want a new direction)

Government Action = Landowner Benefit

2007-01-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

Brendan Buck runs a fascinating blog on planning and development in the Dublin area. He writes about the increase in land values after the Dublin Port Tunnel opened. Dear Dirty Dublin's taxpayers chipped in 750 Million Euros, yet I bet that the land owners situated where the tunnel pops out of the water won't pay more than anyone else for this unearned windfall.

I wonder what my friends at Eire's own Feasta - who try and rationalize the public economy for sustainability and prosperity for all would make of this?

Fat Boy Sings Last Sad Song

2007-01-02T09:33:00.000-05:00

I've never been to Smyrna, Georgia, but if I ever, it would have been plopped down at Fat Boy, my kind of joint. It sounds like an old greasy spoon of my youth Dan's Place in 1980s Albany.

Well, Smyrna's getting hot, like the rest of Metro Atlanta. Hotlanta is not truly Southern anymore, so that means a sea of pampered yups want their Sushi, Trader Joe's and that damnable Panera. So, that means an old comfy place like Fat Boy has to go...

The Atlanta Journal article claims, per usual, that the weird and savage beast gentrification is causing Fat Boy's demise. "Gentrification." It's one of those words that can explain and define anything like spiritual, globalization or post-modern.

But - really truly - high land values caused Fat Boy to die. Nothing else. The business didn't own the land, so the landowner knew that a corporate client would be able to absorb the higher rent. this drives homes a point about land value taxation (LVT).

The whole community made Smyrna hot: The dog's dinner of Interstates and Beltways that drained Atlanta of people increased land values in the exurbs. Newt Gringrich increased land values by making Cobb County the babe at the teat of Federal largess. The government by somnambulism that is Atlanta City increases land values outside the city be decreasing them inside the city.

Urban Planet has a nice discussion of this issue, with input from your blogporter.

Ups and Downs: Land Values in New York City

2006-12-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

Taxing land values (LVT) is supposed to make the earth accessible to all. Big idea. Real world, what does that mean?

Well, it means that in the richest city of all, some people can't get housing without government stepping in (actually, stomping in). Land values are so high, they require high-end condos, with high-end price tags. In addition to building taxes, there are the unofficial taxes of high construction costs due to the mob, official corruption by assessors, and the mind-bending permit and inspection process. and passing laws that require cheap housing, as a set aside.

Of course, most of THIS government action (fixing an exemption program to include affordable housing) has been jimmied into the body politic to redress the distortions cause by THAT government action. "So it goes", as Kurt Vonnegut as always hiccoughs

Example: The heap big New York Sun real estate writer tells us that land values are set to take a tumble in 2007. In itself, not a surprise but the peculiar institution that is New York City has a lot to do with it.

Everyday, I bless the fact that believing in the economics of land rent liberates me from belonging to the camps (or gulags) of damnable redistributionists or contemptible rent-seeking pirates.

Just chatted with a Mayor...

2006-12-27T17:15:00.000-05:00

...And he suggested I blog my trips when I travel to speak about LVT. That's why he's the Mayor, I guess. Alas, I can't identify him. Here's a news article about one such expedition to Titusville, Pa. where I presented a study to the city outlining the awful property assessments provided by Crawford County.

Although LVT has cut taxes for most homeowners, the commercial and industrial values are so out of whack that the city could tax land values 100% and still not move a vacant land owner to dump his land (or build on it). We have more work to do in that charming little town.

Titusville also has a nice new brewpub downtown and a clean little Comfort Inn to rest my weary head. The modern oil industry started in Titusville, but it peaked in about 1890. Oops.

Anyway, Jeannie Seeley comes from Titusville, and that's cool.

Politics and Taxes

2006-12-27T11:59:00.000-05:00

Here's the start. I run a non-profit foundation that researches alternatives to our current systems of taxation. Dull? Sometimes. Yet, the collision between what I think is a way-cool economic policy and politics can be interesting. I hope you'll think so too.

I hear from dozens of people a month frustrated by their inability to be heard by their elected leaders and the wonks that advise them. This space will report on news about saving cities, taxes and all the self serving that prevents real reform. I'll comment on that news.

I always thought about a blog to comment on what I run into, and think there may be some sympaticos out there.

The reason this is getting launched is that I believe land value taxation is the way governments ought to tax. Knowing you're likely saying "Say, what?" here's a quick and dirty: http://www.urbantools.org

Now that's out of the way, I can say that this blogspiration came from Jonathan Saidel, a good man who got waylaid by a bad system. He believes in LVT, and was willing to go the mat for it.
He used to be the City Controller of Philadelphia and had a better than good chance to be the next Mayor.

Philadelphia is a funny kind of a city. It's where my mentor, as it were, Henry George was born. It's a place where the people are are bluntly realistic, almost downbeat, but the leaders are generally delusional about the state of the city and have been for about a hundred years.

One reason why the city is in such trouble is the tax system. That's the hook I hang my hat on.

Later!