Detroit considering changing to Land Value Tax, Duggan says

[Richard]

On a different note... Canada wants to levy a tax on absentee property owners...

"A new 1% tax on vacant or underused housing in Canada is putting US-Canada relations "in jeopardy", according to a bipartisan group of US lawmakers. The legislators want Ottawa to exempt US citizens from the tax, which imposes the additional levy on residential properties that sit unused for more than half of each calendar year."

This may be mainly aimed at Asians who purchase Canadian properties, but rarely live in them.

Of course Canada will exempt Americans,because Canadians own a lot of property in Florida that they do not live in.

But that has to do with lack of inventory and affordable housing in large cities,it started in California because U.S. real estate is a safe place to park money for foreigners.

They can stop being nice and say what it is about,stopping the Chinese because like in California they bought properties even before the last crash and never lived in them or rented them out like to the tune of removing over 30% of available housing from the market,pretty much permanently.


Same problem in Florida,during the last crash ME governments bought tracks of land 10,000 acres and up.

I am being taxed as an absentee owner in essence because I have another house in another city and because I can only homestead one house in the state I pay $1500 a year more in taxes,so cities actually like absentee home ownership because they pay a higher tax rate and require no services in return.

But Detroit does not have that problem because they have no shortage of available housing options,which is actually detrimental.

[Richard]

Lowering property taxes is definitely one way to go. Well, here's my problem. Back in 2021 the Land Bank offered side-lots within five hundred feet of a taxpayer's principal residents for $100. My mother's property was surrounded by side-lots to the South and West of her principal residence. On her behalf, I purchased seven of the lots. I later added my name to the lots and my mother's principal residence. In the spirit of the movie the Godfather, "The Land Bank made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

Ok, so I'm sitting on these lots with the idea that I could sell some of them to a developer who wants four to five contiguous lots to develop. In the meantime, I cut the grass and maintain the properties. The city no longer has to hire someone to cut the grass. In addition, I'll eventually have to pay property taxes [[currently they're exempt up to 2026).

Here's the thing. I'm maintaining the properties, but according to this land value tax I'm going to be penalized if I don't put houses on them? Or worse still, I'll be forced to sell the properties because the property tax is going to be higher than what I pay on my principal residence. Someone help me understand this. Thanks in advance.

The Lincoln Institute report recommended Detroit implement a split-rate tax at a 5:1 rate, with land value making up the bulk of the tax rate. Anderson said a land value tax could produce the same effect, and the focus on land value might be an easier legal lift. He called Detroit "an ideal test bed" for the tax plan, but said it could take a decade before the impacts are clear.
Anderson, and the report, tried to avoid speculating on what the change might do to Detroit's economy and the business environment. Gabriel Cuéllar, a visiting assistant professor in architecture at the University of Michigan, cautioned that the city wouldn't be able to control the kind of businesses or structures that came in if property was marketed for sale or if someone decided to build. There's no telling what use they will choose, he said.

https://archive.ph/9UKjd

Sense you joined the ranks of speculators and if the proposal goes through,you can build whatever you want on the property.

Strip clubs make good cash.

It will be a free for all,take an empty lot in EEV and turn it into a drug rehab facility or nice homeless shelter,nobody will be able to say anything including the city in opposition.

[Lowell]

The Land Value Tax topic has resurfaced with a Nov. 14 New York Time article featuring Mayor Duggin and the land value tax issue. For the Econ nerds, itt also goes into depth about Georgism.

The article led me to view this excellent video of Duggin keynoting the Mackinac Policy Conference on his land value tax proposal. Duggin is brilliant and convincing. As I saw in his State of the City address he has become a very polished and persuasive audio visual presenter.