Public Revenue Education Council
Center for the Study of Economics
Common Ground USA
Supporting education and innovation in tax policy in land economics.
Landvalues.org is a collaborative project of not-for-profit organizations whose mission is to educate policymakers, academics, and the public on innovative fiscal policies to create a tax environment that emphasizes Efficiency, Smart Growth, Equity, and Fairness.
Materials for Learning
Land values in any taxing jurisdiction are unique: unlike buildings, jobs, or businesses, land value is created by the investments and activities of the public and city government. No one person or entity can create land value. Therefore, the goal of any property tax shift is to recoup the investment made by the community and use it for public purposes.
What happens when a city changes how it taxes and what it taxes?
“When the people of Allentown voted for the land value tax in 1994, nearly 3 out of every 4 properties saw at least some tax cut. Today, many properties that did pay more have new or better buildings on them, stabilizing the tax base to the point where we haven’t had a tax increase in five years. In that time, the number of building permits in Allentown increased by 32% compared to before we had a land tax.” US Senator Patrick Toomey
Support for Communities
The land value tax is a levy on the value of unimproved land that shifts the basis of property taxes away from buildings and improvements to the assessed value of the land on which they are located.
The land value tax is well suited to cities that need to build new infill projects but where high taxes on improvements discourage new development.
The land value tax's intent is to incentivize owners of vacant land to develop those parcels or sell them to others who will.
The land value tax is a payment for the benefits received from the transportation system and municipal investment in other infrastructure.
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
info@landvalues.org
Phone
(800)836-3575