Recent Comments
Re: “A Call to Arms”
Braddock and all the other old steel town should try to create an economic climate that rewards this kind of entrepreneurial risk-taking.
Fixing up these old buildings requires lots of up front money in a time of recession. One thing Braddock can do is adopt the land value tax, which taxes land values and untaxes investment, buildings, construction and renovations. It cuts taxes dramatically for homeowners and builders where its been used, like in Clairton
It applies to all buildings, not just a tax-abated corporate few (think Homestead), and works where tried.
I will contact Braddock about it. www.urbantools.org
Posted by
Joshua Vincent
on 10/08/2008 at 9:27 AM
Re: “Fitzgerald: Without statewide tax reform, "I'll go to jail" before sending out tax reassessments”
Refusing to follow a court order may have worked for George Wallace in the South in the 1960s, but I don't see how this will get things accomplished in real terms. But that's not the heart of the issue
How can a Democrat - a man OF THE "PEOPLE" -keep tax values artificially high in some of the poorest towns and neighborhoods of the County, and give the recent McMansions of the townships a break? How can he support older values that objectively hit senior citizens hardest? "Everyone else does it" is no excuse.