Tax the Real Estate, Not What is Built On It

Lancaster M. Greene

[Reprinted from the New York Times, 5 December 1984]

To the Editor:

To help the homeless get homes, the collection of ground rent or location value, with total exemption of all taxes on the value of homes or buildings or on improvements to them, would greatly encourage both building and improvement.

This is the time- and experience- tested method of encouraging building and discouraging the holding of locations out of use for speculative purposes.

Five cities in Pennsylvania that have a two-rate system of realty taxes - with a lower rate on improvements - have found it quite effective in providing jobs and increasing construction. The cities are Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown, McKeesport and Scranton; Washington and Duquesne, Pa., have approved instituting the two-rate system to improve their communities.

Why can't the Big Apple follow their example and lead the way in this state?