StamfordCT

Puzzles in Stamford's 2007 assessments

I'm finding some puzzling things in the October, 2007 Stamford assessment database, and wonder how they might be explained.

How might we best raise the revenue we need?

How might we tax ourselves more efficiently and more justly, and avoid the high housing costs that plague our part of the state?

A simple tax reform will go a long way: Land Value Taxation.

At its simplest, LVT is a reform of the existing property tax, starting with reducing the tax burden on buildings, while increasing the tax load on land (remaining revenue neutral). This will produce more housing, more commercial space and lower rents and selling prices for both.

I suspect that we might find its results so desirable that we might then considering shifting some of our other taxation off of sales and off of wages.

Assessing Stamford's Parks: Public, Private and Very Private

I stumbled across some interesting data in the  October 1, 2007 assessment.  Here are the assessments for some of Stamford's public parks (just the land, excluding any improvements):

1. Cove Island (1241 Cove Rd)   40.41 acres  $34,926,160 (at 100%, $49,894,514)
2. Cove Island Marina (1125 Cove Rd)  21.09 acres $25,497,960 (at 100%: $36,425,657)
3.  Cummings Park (0 Shippan Ave) 79.29 acres $101,960,500 (at 100% $145,580,714)

4. West Beach (0 Shippan Ave)  3.62 acres $15,707,060 (at 100% $22,438,657)
5. Czescik Park (0 Shippan Ave) 8.20 acres $11,746,550 (at 100%  $16,780,786)
6. Sterling Farms (1347 Newfield Ave) 132.50 acres $12,985,000 (at 100%, 18,550,000)

7. Lione Park (0 Stillwater Rd) 9.2 acres $12,820,060 (at 100%, $18,314,371)
8. Scalzi Park (0 Bridge St) 48.1 acres $20,855,980 (at 100% 29,794,257)
9. Hubbard Heights Golf Club (0 Stillwater Rd) 82.2 acres $8,055,600 (at 100%, $11,508,000)

The Stamford Advocate property ... land, not buildings

A recent article in the Stamford Advocate announced the sale of the downtown Stamford property which was, until a few months ago, the home of the newspaper.  It began,

A Norwalk developer confirmed yesterday it entered into an agreement to buy the former Advocate building in Stamford and Greenwich Time building in Greenwich from Tribune Co. for an undisclosed amount.

Revitalizing older cities

Recently, four city mayors in Connecticut proposed that cities ought to  be permitted to impose a 1% sales tax if they chose.  Those who spend much time thinking about incentives recognize this as a poor idea.  I particularly liked this pair of letters to the editor in the New London Day:

Funding Infrastructure: A Dedicated Funding Stream

A recent article in the Stamford Advocate, Dodd touts transit-funding bill in Stamford (3/25)

STAMFORD - During an appearance yesterday at the Urban Transitway construction site, U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., called for major national investment in roads, trains, bridges and other infrastructure.

Dodd came to town to promote his bill that would set up an independent national bank for such projects. The bank would designate regionally significant projects for loans, loan guarantees or other financial help and issue tax-exempt bonds to finance them.

Dodd said the United States needs a national policy and a dedicated funding stream for maintaining infrastructure, rather than leaving it to politicians to fight for money for individual projects.

It may be a dry topic, but it's important, he said.

"It normally glazes over the eyes of the most determined listener," Dodd said. "I'm proud to be in a city that cares about it."

Is LVT the answer? It depends what the question is.

The title for this post was prompted by an article in the NYT about people not raised on farms deciding to become farmers, particularly in places near large cities.  It seems that local food was said to be the answer to a number of questions.  I'm generally in favor of it, but I'm not sure it is the answer to as many questions as its supporters claim.  That doesn't make "local food" a bad thing; just not the answer to as many questions as it might seem.

But the title for this post sprang to mind.  It seems to me that Land Value Taxation is the answer to a lot of very important questions.

The Colorado Self-Sufficiency Standard, 2008

Yes -- there is a Connecticut angle on this ... keep reading!

Link: http://www.cclponline.org/pubfiles/SelfSufficiency08_FinalProof.pdf
The newest Self Sufficiency Standard Study was published recently, for Colorado.   The SSS is a detailing of a no-frills cost of living which meets all the most simply defined needs but provides no frills.  I've spent a lot of time on most of the 30+ studies (mostly on one state at a time; a few on a major metropolitan area), and have mixed feelings about them.  On the one hand, they are probably the best assessment we've got the cost of a the-very-bottom-of-lower-middle-class lifestyle in various places in the US.  They use a consistent and logical methodology and tailor the findings to various configurations of families.  So far, very good and useful.

Fixing Wages, and Fixing Housing Affordability -- for All of Us

By this, I mean fixing the problem of low wages -- wages insufficient to support an individual or a family in conditions we consider acceptable on a reasonable number of hours of labor per week. I don't mean minimum wage legislation, or living wage legislation, both of which I regard as well-intentioned but ultimately destructive for the community they intend to help.  I don't mean measures like the Earned Income Tax Credit, either.  It appears that people must jump through high hoops to get those dollars (which often seems to require professional advice, at a price), and then a significant portion of the money goes not to the wage earner but to his tax preparer/advisor, in the form of fees and interest.

The FairTax, and why it isn't fair or wise

One of my standing google alerts took me to an article on Florida taxes. On the comments pages, some people were proposing the FairTax as a good alternative to the current federal income tax.  I ended up posting several comments in response to their statements, and thought I'd cross-post my comments here.