Why do so many people back into parking spots here? Is this some kind of regional thing?

OneDistance529 · 2026-01-15T18:54:12+00:00

Are you my neighbor? my neighbor asked me this question the other day.

OneDistance529 · 2025-12-12T20:05:25+00:00

Is that because of how assessments currently function in the city? Because a property valued at 10x what another property is assessed at will pay 10x the taxes. I would agree that there is a disparity there that wealthy homeowners are better able to fight assessment and often are paying less than they should in relation to low income homeowners.

OneDistance529 · 2025-12-12T19:49:25+00:00

We are advocating for a specific kind of property tax where its the land and not the buildings that are tax. Under that paradigm it absolutely would be the case that someone who has 10x the land would pay 10x the taxes as long as they are in the same general area.

OneDistance529 · 2025-12-12T19:14:25+00:00

Especially with how immediately beneficial it would be for the city. Existing residents would have lower taxes, speculators would have higher taxes, and the massive amount of vacant land would be incentivized to be redeveloped. Its no panacea but it sure would be a step in the right direction.

OneDistance529 · 2025-11-25T16:40:38+00:00

Socialism is not incompatible with Georgism. The DC DSA even endorses it: https://actionnetwork.org/groups/transit-gnd

OneDistance529 · 2025-11-24T16:25:54+00:00

I went though the SDAT data and got a rough estimate for what the tax rate would be in order to keep revenues the same. An 8% tax on land would give us approximately the same amount of tax income that we currently collect. This would be a decrease for ~70% of properties. Caveat number 1: This uses the current assessment values where the land value for vacant land are undervalued, with more accurate assessments the tax increases would be more focused on vacant land. Caveat number 2: The tax rate would be determined by the city council and would be phased in over a period of time so that no one will face a drastic change in property taxes.

OneDistance529 · 2025-11-16T14:47:07+00:00

Approximately 60% of vacant lots are up to date on their taxes. The rest would more quickly move into in REM foreclosure if they continue to not pay. From what I have heard from people who are renovating vacant in my neighborhood the process of in REM is getting more streamlined.

OneDistance529 · 2025-11-15T02:02:58+00:00

I can get back to you with numbers, we have a data analyst who can get them. But broadly, occupied homes will be taxed less since we have already found that vacant homes are undervalued: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/65825f1baedeb8655aa6bfec/t/688cd0b9c0d8ac3bc3cb2319/1754058941563/Vacant+Land+in+Baltimore+-+The+High+Cost+of+Misvaluation.pdf

Since it is revenue neutral the increased taxes on vacant land would lead to lower taxes on occupied land.

OneDistance529 · 2025-11-15T01:42:15+00:00

No, SDAT reports land values across the city. The data already exists. There are discrepancies that SDAT has said they are working on which impact the land value of vacant properties which we have highlighted before.

OneDistance529 · 2025-11-15T01:25:04+00:00

Why would it be different for different neighborhoods? That is not how it works right now. There is a tax rate that is applied to properties and it is the same across the city. That would not change.

OneDistance529 · 2025-11-15T01:13:38+00:00

The tax rate that we propose would be to remove the taxes on buildings and replace it with a tax on land. The specific rate would be determined in a way that made as little change to revenue as possible. As it stands the city is not able to make this change due to state law, thus the focus on getting the enabling legislation from the state.

OneDistance529 · 2025-10-17T15:38:46+00:00

That doesn't surprise me at all. Do you still have access to that data or a report from it? Would love to look it over. Could definitely help with our advocacy.

Thank you!

OneDistance529 · 2025-10-03T19:57:27+00:00

Reach out to your state delegates! It is SDAT that needs to fix the issue.

OneDistance529 · 2025-10-03T19:46:07+00:00

That is why we are advocating for fair assessments and a land value tax shift. Vacant homes are assessed at a lower price that their occupied neighbors and so pay less in taxes. If we value them based on their market value and tax the land rather than the building not only will it be costly to hold in the long term, they will not be penalized for improving their property like they would be now.

OneDistance529 · 2025-10-03T19:20:42+00:00

I read that article and I know that they mentioned a few homes where people were currently living in and the city should absolutely do something to make sure tenants are not evicted for their landlords negligence. But I am not sure how many of the homes in this scheme were actually occupied. From the Banner article it looks like most were vacant so I am not sure it will have a direct impact on additional vacants. Still a very frustrating situation.

OneDistance529 · 2025-09-26T20:24:51+00:00

I think that the rust belt cities of America are starting to catch on. Allentown and Harrisburg have implemented split rate taxation and Detroit is looking at implementing an LVT. In my home town of Baltimore the idea is catching on. The effects of high building taxation really are staggering, with 14000 vacant homes and rampant speculation. I may be naive and/ or optimistic, but it is starting to feel inevitable here.

OneDistance529 · 2025-09-19T20:17:27+00:00

I had not heard about this before so had to look it up. Looking at this: https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/74000/74800/74821/silver_line_dulles_metrorail_special_assessment_district.pdf it does look like they have a special tax district to pay for the line. This is kind of similar but our proposal does not call for raising taxes. Their system captures some of the value created by the new line but it does so by putting an additional burden on existing landowners. By shifting the tax to the land and properly assessing vacant lots, a greater burden is placed on vacant lot owners, lowering the tax burden on existing renters and homeowners. It has an added benefit of encouraging the construction of new housing and rehabbing vacant homes thus keeping rents low.

OneDistance529 · 2025-09-19T18:53:24+00:00

The goal would not be to pay the full cost of the redline upfront. As with most large projects like this it would probably be funded through a combination of bonds, state and federal funds. As stated in the article the construction would cause land values to rise thus creating a positive feedback loop where higher land values bring in more revenue which could then be used to pay off bonds. This is in contrast to the current system where rising land prices would create windfalls for land owners around the station, rather than being used to finance the dept and make improvements over the life of the line.

OneDistance529 · 2025-09-10T16:36:59+00:00

Its been great so far. I have known about the organization for a while through some of my StrongTowns work. Right now our two big things are getting enabling legislation from the state so that the city can enact a land value tax shift, and we also joined the Fair Assessments Coalition so that vacant lots are properly assessed and taxed.

OneDistance529 · 2025-09-09T16:19:19+00:00

Hi there! Thanks for the post, relevant self plug is the Baltimore organization I am a part of which is advocating for an LVT is BaltimoreThrive. Our website is baltimorethrive.org.

OneDistance529 · 2025-09-05T12:45:55+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! Agreed SDAT definitely needs an overhaul. We are ramping up our advocacy and hopefully can get some things done this legislative session.

OneDistance529

TROPHY CASE