The conservative Heartland Foundation argues that taxing land — not the buildings or improvements, but the land itself — to fund transit makes sense, since proximity to transit increases land values:
As dozens of studies across the globe have shown, the benefits of transit show up as increased land values. Land served by public transportation is worth more than land not served. The amount varies, of course, depending on the quality of service, type of development, general standard of living, etc., but the effect is large.
A study published in 1997 for RTA, “The Effect of CTA and Metra Stations on Residential Property Values,” by Gruen Gruen & Associates, implies that just the existing rail system adds land value in excess of $1.6 billion a year.
Another study, published in Regional Science and Urban Economics in 1995, considered land prices before and after construction of CTA’s Orange Line and calculated the line added 17.4 percent to land values.
But we’ve known that since the Union Pacific days, haven’t we?
(via The Overhead Wire)
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