Show notes
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribeProperty taxes are two taxes stapled together: one on the land, one on whatever gets built on it. Put up an apartment building and the bill goes up. Pave the lot for parking and it stays low. It discourages building and rewards land speculation. The answer? Tax the buildings less and the land more. The idea of a “land value tax” goes back 150 years, but implementing it today involves navigating tricky constitutional issues. In this episode, I talk with Greg Miller of the Center for Land economics about the rationale for such taxes, and with Kitty Klitzke, a Spokane, Washington council member, about the difficulties of putting it in practice in a real city. Chapters:00:00 Introduction03:22 Henry George and the case for taxing land08:12 How property taxes work now, and what a split rate changes11:26 Land value taxes and upzoning as complements15:18 The Pennsylvania record and the reassessment problem18:51 Vancouver, and why homeowners outlast the policy24:03 Estonia, Singapore, and the Scottish Islands26:53 Washington's uniformity clause and the building exemption33:18 Kitty Klitzke on twenty years of Spokane infill43:27 What Spokane needs from the state legislature45:25 Single family homeowners and the Division corridor48:34 The assessor objection52:45 What the Spokane modeling shows59:31 The plan for next session1:01:44 Virginia, Kentucky, and cross-partisan momentum
