- Pennsylvania Among 'Terrible 10' Most Regressive Tax States
- February 4 Non-Partisan Training: HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013: HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Republican Governors Opt-In to Medicaid Expansion
- The Reports of Unions' Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
- Ask Allyson Schwartz to run for Governor
- Mind the gap: Opting Out of Medicaid Expansion Leaves Low-income Families Behind
- Jan. 14 Workshop:HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013; HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Seth Williams on Guns, Jasmine Rivera on School Closures @PFC Meetup Wednesday
- PA Revenue Strong Midway Through Year; Tax Cut Could Have Big Impact
- What to Make of the Fiscal Cliff Deal?
The Public Record endorses a land value tax to tackle City's budget crisis
Submitted by elloyd on Thu, 01/22/2009 - 12:28pm.
The Philadelphia Public Record has run an excellent front-cover piece on the land value tax today entitled "We Need An LVT Fix." Be sure to pick up a copy at one of the many locations across the city. We'll post a link to the Web version when its available in the archive. From the article:
"The property tax has remained stable while other City taxes have seen reductions due to the poor business climate. How to increase that revenue source, without adding a heavy burden to [home]owners, is answered by the [land value tax]."
It's gaining significant momentum across the city as both officials and the public search for solutions to the city's challenges. Whether you're familiar with the land value tax or not, support it or are against it, we'd like to invite you to join us this Saturday for a workshop on how the tax would impact Philadelphia. We'll be utilizing official BRT property data used for the property tax, and presenting our analysis using cutting edge visualization tools to take views from the entire city down to every council district, neighborhood, and street.
Also, the Henry George Foundation will be attending the RootsCamp Philly sessions on January 31st, where we'll be discussing tax reform, economic development, and infrastructure reinvestment with activists and others interested in the challenges that confront us all. Hope to see you there!
Just for the record (no pun intended)
Unless there's been a recent change I don't know about, the Record is the brainchild and the product of Jim Tayoun, the former Councilperson. While a Councilperson, Tayoun pushed relentlessly for the LVT with no success. So the fact that the Record has now endorsed it is one of the least surprising events in recent history.
Let's talk solutions
Yes, you are correct; Tayoun runs the Public Record and supported a major effort while a councilman to get an LVT enacted. It failed by 1 vote. And because it is still an excellent idea and one of the only proposals with solid research and potential today, it shouldn't be promoted again? I'd like to personally invite you to our workshop Saturday; bring your questions and skepticism and we'll happily address them all with detailed answers.
LVT
Since Bill Green's an occasional participant here, might we be able to get him to introduce a LVT bill at a future Council session?
-Z
We are scheduling meetings with council members now
We hope to build broad support for a bill among the members as we've rapidly been gaining support from the public. With even more bad news on the budget front, LVT is becoming more and more attractive. Advocating for and educating on the policy will get us there.