Will Richmond, Virginia, take concrete steps towards a Land Value Tax by 2023?
Mini
17
Ṁ1830
resolved Jan 2
Resolved
YES
Concrete steps include: - Elected officials proposing and/or debating an LVT policy measure - Actually enacting the policy measure - Commissioning a new report on the subject that they haven't already done as of the posting of this question LVT for the purpose of this question is defined as a property tax that falls entirely or mostly on land. A property tax with a 75% or greater exemption for improvements (particularly buildings) will count for this purpose. For context the Center for Property Tax reform has Richmond, Virginia in its sights and there seems to be an open dialogue: https://centerforpropertytaxreform.org/2021/09/22/is-a-land-value-tax-right-for-richmond-virginia/ #Georgism #LandValueTax #Virginia #USPolitics
Get Ṁ1,000 play money

🏅 Top traders

#NameTotal profit
1Ṁ47
2Ṁ46
Sort by:
predicted YES

When I posted this market I said:

"Concrete steps include:
- Elected officials proposing and/or debating an LVT policy measure
- Actually enacting the policy measure
- Commissioning a new report on the subject that they haven't already done as of the posting of this question"

This article was posted September 8, 2022:
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/councilman-pushes-for-tax-reform-as-richmond-property-values-rise

"Meantime, 1st District Councilman Andreas Addison said longtime single-family residents, who have stayed put in their neighborhoods, are being taxed more due to a growing number of people buying and selling in a booming market."

District Councilman Andreas Addison counts as an elected official. Let's see if he's "proposed and/or debated an LVT policy measure."

From the article:

"That's why Addison said he pushes for a tax reform that would tax land value separately from the building and potentially lower taxable value of the property itself.

"If we looked at decoupling our property, the home versus the land, we could look at how zoning dictates value changes of the land itself. Then we tax what the land is worth rather than being dependent on what the building is," Addison said.

He said this approach would create an incentive to build on vacant parking lots and encourage development.

Addison added, as a land-locked city, it would give Richmond more economic control.

“The land’s value is dictated by very controllable assets: zoning type, density, height, usage, proximity to other assets, parks, schools, facilities, etc. It becomes a very different formula than just depending on, 'hey, look, the interest rates went down, people are buying and selling homes, my assessment value goes up, the city makes more money,'" he said.

While land value taxation is not widely known or practiced, Addison said City Council approved a study and community engagement process that would analyze the possible impacts of implementing such a reform. Results will take about six to nine months."

That certainly seems like it qualifies on both of these measures:
- Elected officials proposing and/or debating an LVT policy measure
- Commissioning a new report on the subject that they haven't already done as of the posting of this question

Based on the above evidence, this resolves YES. I'm surprised nobody noticed this opportunity sooner, a lot of free money to be made.

predicted NO

@LarsDoucet I bought NO late after doing a bit of research on this (I did find this article, and I also searched through all of the city council actions in 2022).

Were you able to identify when the council approved this study? I did not see such action since the market was created, though it's possible I missed it.

I also judged that "Addison said he pushes for a tax reform" did not qualify as "proposing" the policy; I expected this to require a more formal proposal. Sadness.

predicted YES

@jcb Sorry about that, we n the future I would definitely recommend putting that info on the comments so we can discuss it and make sure we’re both using the same definitions. I will look up the city council study that was supposedly commissioned and see if I can confirm it beyond this news account