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> Some starting value from being in town, then add something for oceanfront property, then add something some extra bump based on distance from some set of amen

> Some starting value from being in town, then add something for oceanfront property, then add something some extra bump based on distance from some set of amenities provided by the community (parks, subways, etc). How do you know you weren't also supposed to take the floor plan or exterior paint color into consideration? How do you account for the value lost from having obnoxious neighbors? What happens when, in the future, a nice bookstore/coffee shop is opened up down the street, or alternatively a liquor store? Ultimately, how do you know if whatever equation you've constructed is exhaustive or "correct"? It might sound like "well then you just adjust the equation" but this wouldn't be without consequence. One outcome of getting that equation incorrect is that a home is valued at a point where the imposed tax prices out anyone from purchasing the home - it would sit empty/foreclosed for as long as it takes a local government bureaucracy to come in and attempt to re-assess its value. So you could effectively be removing houses from a competitive home buying market, which is going to increase the price of other homes until they too have priced people out of the area. Multiply that by entire zip codes, and while you're working on adjusting that equation, you could end up having a real shit show on your hands with a bunch of people being displaced or in worse financial positions. > It is at least possible to come up with something, unlike, what, the assessor's gut feeling about how nice your house is? This seems like it is putting much more arbitrary power in the hands of some random person. I agree with the point that a home assessment is strange and arbitrary, but you're really just saying we should replace the assessor who goes and visits a property with a group of assessor's that just come up with an equally arbitrary equation that gets blanket applied to entire cities? Why is that preferable to something like just using the previous home sale price or, honestly, just staying with the current system that we know is generally very functional?

bee_rider 4y ago
You don't know the equation you came up with is correct, but it is at least describable, so if someone doesn't like it they can live elsewhere I guess, or argue about it at the next town hall session. If a bad equation is designed, then that's a problem, but it is a general bad governance problem that effects everyone, rather than an arbitrary lightning-strike problem like a bad assessment. Floor plan or paint color -- the point of a land value tax is that it is based on the value of the land. Floor plan and paint color would be improvements on the property, so they would be excluded. The current system is not very functional. Housing is not very affordable in most cities due to speculative real estate investment and under-development. I mean, we clearly get by, but just because the alternative is being homeless.

bee_rider 4y ago

You don't know the equation you came up with is correct, but it is at least describable, so if someone doesn't like it they can live elsewhere I guess, or argue about it at the next town hall session. If a bad equation is designed, then that's a problem, but it is a general bad governance problem that effects everyone, rather than an arbitrary lightning-strike problem like a bad assessment. Floor plan or paint color -- the point of a land value tax is that it is based on the value of the land. Floor plan and paint color would be improvements on the property, so they would be excluded. The current system is not very functional. Housing is not very affordable in most cities due to speculative real estate investment and under-development. I mean, we clearly get by, but just because the alternative is being homeless.