To get the revenue you need, tax land assessments (more than building assessments):

          1) It can generate millions of dollars for your government, maybe billions.  

          2) It will encourage landowners to use their sites efficiently (or sell to someone who will) thereby causing new buildings and new jobs to sprout.  Here's a tax that actually creates jobs!  It has actually done so wherever it's been tried.  No pie-in-the-sky.  It is not a tax on business, since no business ever created land or location (God did).  Nor is it in any way a tax on business activities.  

              To be sure, businesspeople, if they are landowners, must pay any extra land value tax but the tax is not based on their business activities; this tax will, in fact, encourage business because land sites will have to be efficiently used and the taxes it replaces will be lower.  These two changes will stimulate production.  Taxes, properly levied, can actually help business, not hobble it.  They have already done so.    

          3) It is more based on ability-to-pay than any tax now being levied, or that could be levied.  

You can, of course, get revenue by taxing buildings, wage earners, or businesses, but such taxes always discourage what is being taxed.  For instance, if you tax buildings, you'll have fewer buildings.  If you tax wages, you create unemployment.  If you tax businesses, you'll have fewer businesses and those that survive will have to raise their prices.  And so on. 

A tax on land assessments cannot possibly reduce the supply of land.  That supply is fixed, fixed. 

But if you tax land assessments, land would have to be used more fully; you create jobs and have more buildings and businesses.  The choice is yours.  In fact, if land assessments are taxed, land prices will actually decline, thereby making it easier for new businesses to get started.

How can a tax on land assessments create jobs?  Well, jobs won't be taxed, neither will what job-holders produce be taxed.  If land-sites will be more fully used, jobs will actually be created because land-sites will have to be used more fully and efficiently (within zoning limits, of course). 

Keep in mind that a tax on land assessments works exactly opposite all other taxes because land is limited in supply and is not a product of human labor (though of course, both types of taxes yield governmental revenue).  Whatever can be said about taxes on production, the exact opposite will be true of a land assessments tax. So as much as possible, tax land assessments not things produced.   

Therefore, we should not be surprised that there are literally hundreds of empirical studies showing that when taxes are shifted to land values, prosperity ensues and government gets the revenue it needs.  Even ability-to-pay is satisfied.   

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Land value taxation has been mainly implemented by cities and towns, but there is absolutely no reason why it can't also be implemented by other levels of government which either levy a property tax now or could levy it.

School districts are currently levying a high property tax.  Shouldn't they give some thought to its economic impact on their communities and  taxpayers?  This applies to all special districts and counties.  All levels of government should be exempting buildings in whole or in part.   

Many of our states are in serious financial difficulties.  If they need additional revenue, shouldn't they levy a new statewide land value tax (exempting farmers and all buildings)?  They should be benefiting their  economy and taxpayers. 

If they are already levying a statewide property tax; shouldn't they raise the tax rate but reduce some wealth-reducing tax that voters are complaining about? Shouldn't they be exempting all farmers and all buildings?  If they want farmers or buildings, they shouldn't tax them.  The states could use already-existing local assessments.  We can advise on how exactly to do this.

As for the federal government, it can reduce one of the onerous taxes it is now levying on production and substitute a tax on land values instead. If this were done, most Americans would get tax reductions!  We can offer 17 specific suggestions on how the federal government can do this.

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Here are replies to 3 commonly-heard objections to a land value tax:

>>>Wouldn't a land assessment tax be tough on farmers and homeowners?  No, if only because they can be exempted.  Many studies show that even without exemptions, homeowners get actual tax reductions with land assessment taxation (that's because most of them have a greater-than-average investment in their buildings as compared to their land).  

All other taxes raise the prices these politically important groups pay - but not a land value tax.  In fact, this would be true for all voters.  For instance, poor people don't usually own much land value, do they?  So if land values are taxed, poor people would hardly be taxed, right?

For a fuller discussion of the ability-to-pay issue, see the appropriate link on the left.  It also contains a list of land-value-tax alleviations available to farmers and homeowners.  We can suggest additional alleviations.

>>>Would it harm the environment?  No again - it would benefit it. If land values were taxed more instead of buildings, more homes would be built in cities, which then wouldn't sprawl into the clean-and-green countryside.  If land is used efficiently, the environment will be benefited.

>>>Would it undermine revenue neutrality?  Absolutely not.  Whatever revenue you lose by not taxing buildings or other human-produced commodities or services, you can gain back by taxing land values more.  We can advise you how to do this.  

If you need more revenue to meet an exploding budget, think of taxing land assessments.  Implementing a tax on land assessments will be kinder to poor people, the unemployed, homeowners, the elderly, even business - kinder, in fact, to most voters in your jurisdiction.

There are other advantages in taxing land assessments rather than human- produced commodities and services, but for now let us just say this: land-value tax good, all other taxes bad.  

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There are five ways to implement a land assessment tax - all with complete revenue neutrality, if that's what you want.  Which way is best for you?  The answer depends on your particular situation.  For information on how-to-do-it, call 1-410-997-1182, no cost, no obligation.

It is important to institute a land value tax properly.  Think of making use of our hands-on experience and researching.

It is imperative that this tax be thoroughly and continuously explained to the voters.  They will not be accustomed to a tax on locations. One good way to do this is to enclose an explanation of land value taxation in the same envelope as the property owner's annual tax bill.  Don't try to sneak it through the legislative process.  

This is especially important if the land assessment tax is to raise additional revenue.  If the voters aren't properly informed, they will regard it as being the cause of their property-tax increase, which of course it isn't, nor are they likely to they realize that it will create jobs and is an ability-to-pay tax.

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A few voters will pay more with this tax, but fortunately there are a number of ways to protect them.  For instance, a rate limit (sometimes called a cap) of, say, 2% plus inflation could be placed on any land value tax resulting from the rate change that they will have to pay in the future. We could tell you of other ways they can be protected. 

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Here's how to proceed: After calling us (1-410-997-1182), we can come to see you for a discussion at your convenience, also to perform some necessary research.  We will then write a report containing recommendations.  We make no charge for any of this, except that we would welcome repayment for basic travel and motel expenses.

The decision to proceed is entirely up to you.  We could sign an agreement based only on whether your jurisdiction shows a measurable improvement exceeding U.S. construction (as indicated by published U.S. census data).

We can confidently make this offer because we have seen the 237 empirical studies (soon there'll be more) mentioned above which support all the claims for land value taxation made in this website.  

If you think this tax might meet your needs but you want more information from a source with hands-on experience with 20+ U.S. localities, you are invited to call Steven Cord (professor-emeritus and economic researcher) at 1-410-997-1182 (no cost, no obligation).

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Reminder: feel free to order the report containing 237 summaries of empirical studies on the effects of land value taxation from all over the world, the U.S. included (cost $12 postpaid).  Or you could ask for a briefer report containing only a representative 22 of these summaries (free, no obligation).