Special assessments are a way local governments can fund projects that will add value to homeowners’ property. When used to fund regular maintenance, though, they’re self-serving, irresponsible and unfairly target the poorest members of the community. It’s time to demand better.
Read MoreIn Baltimore, some of the city’s least wealthy individuals may be overpaying on their property taxes by nearly $300 a year, whereas some of the richest could be underpaying by $14,000 or more.
Read MoreThe Just Accounting for Health coalition has been researching and reporting on property tax inequities for the past 18 months. But the real work is just getting started—and it starts with you.
Read MoreWhy is this official course from the International Association of Assessing Officers still teaching outdated redlining practices to categorize neighborhoods?
Read MoreStrong Towns interviews Dr. Christopher Berry, of the University of Chicago, on how we can begin making meaningful changes to the U.S.’s broken property tax system.
Read MoreAs an ad hoc committee recently discovered, owners of higher-valued properties are more likely to receive a tax break…simply because of bad data.
Read MoreThis case shows why local governments need to do a better job accounting for maintenance costs.
Read MoreWhat is the real reason behind our striking property tax disparities?
Read MoreThe inequities in the tax assessment system are national. But the solutions will have to come from the bottom-up.
Read MoreIf we want to live in a free and equitable society where everyone has the potential to succeed and experience prosperity, we have to understand where the inequities begin.
Read MoreHas your property tax bill skyrocketed this year? It’s worth taking a deeper look into how your county or city does their assessments...
Read MoreIf the city fixes the street outside of your home and increases the value of your real estate, you should have to pay the city back some of that windfall…right?
Read MoreThe concept of a special assessment contains little dark secrets that city officials like to keep to themselves. The ability to assess the cost of maintenance -- a questionable concept at best -- is the only thing allowing many cities to avoid facing their true reality.
Read MoreWe can't prevent mass delusion, but we can work to establish an alternative model for achieving prosperity so there is a viable option to hysteria (and all its handmaidens) when the Illusion of Wealth vanishes.
Read MoreMonday Member Blog Digest: Identifying places of real versus illusory value. What is a "bad neighborhood" anyway? What is the best use of land under or next to an urban freeway? The bright future of the Midwestern "Rust Belt," and why the past isn't a good guide to the future when it comes to real estate values. Neighborhood churches as an urban litmus test. Thoughts on Pope Francis's message re: cities and urbanism. Block parties and red tape. A victory for cyclists in South Florida. When to put your time and energy into an idea when you have more of them than you can effectively advocate for.
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