HB1417

I support HB 1417 because land value taxation can improve housing affordability and create fairer municipal revenue systems.

Greetings from Sullivan County. Yes The current tax on the built environment is invasive, intrusive, highly subject to interpretation and therefore open to graft. It encourages a 'beggar thy neighbor' approach that degrades real property wealth over time in an effort to reduce assessment. The existing system encourages owners to keep their assessments BELOW the average. The proposed land value tax is far less subject to wiggle room, since it comes directly from surveys and property records. The motivation is the reverse of the existing property tax, encouraging individual competition for wise, frugal, responsible development that raises real wealth FASTER than the average. Less graft, less thumbs on the scale. More wealth and better development. YES.