Tax Reform: A Reality Check 3 of 6 (HiRez)

[ourearthhome]

Property taxes do provide a more stable tax base and historically have been the source of revenue for schools providing not only local funding but local control. California abandoned the property tax and its schools fell in quality from near the top to near the bottom with loss of local control. Since schools and other local public services have the effect of increasing land values and not the value of improvements, the appropriate reform is to shift taxation from buildlngs onto land values.