> If anything it seems like it would be much easier than the current property tax assessment scheme.
Explain how it can be easier?
If valuation is based on sale price of the property or nearby comparable properties, those are objective numbers. A sale actually happened, at that price. So it was worth that much to someone. No room for argument.
A LVT gives power to the government to unilaterally declare that in some alternate universe, your plot of land might be worth a lot more, so they'll just go right ahead and tax you on that speculative amount in the absence of any evidence.
Are empty plots not bought and sold? Are properties not bought and sold for demolition and redevelopment? Can you not compare the sale price of similar properties with similar plots in different locations to get estimates for the land value?
What about using insurance estimates for rebuilding costs? If my house is insured for a rebuilding cost of $500,000 and I bought it for $1,500,000, isn't $1,000,000 a reasonable estimate of the land value?
> A LVT gives power to the government to unilaterally declare that in some alternate universe, your plot of land might be worth a lot more
Only if the law for some bizarre reason gives unilateral power to the government to declare the land value for plots arbitrarily
You could say exactly the same thing about property taxes currently. Why could the government not unilaterally declare your property is worth 10x? Because that's not how it works
> You could say exactly the same thing about property taxes currently. Why could the government not unilaterally declare your property is worth 10x? Because that's not how it works
Right, that's not how it works when the tax is based on the sale prices of the property itself and/or comparable nearby properties. Those are market clearing prices, so it demonstrates actual people were actually willing to pay that price, so it is realistic.
The county can't say your property is worth 10x overnight, because there is proof that it is not, in the form of the public records of comparable sales nearby in the last few months.
But with LVT the claim is that the tax should be based on a theoretical value of what it might be worth if someone build something else there, like a high rise apartment tower. It is speculative, since the building doesn't exist. That's completely unfair.
Explain how it can be easier?
If valuation is based on sale price of the property or nearby comparable properties, those are objective numbers. A sale actually happened, at that price. So it was worth that much to someone. No room for argument.
A LVT gives power to the government to unilaterally declare that in some alternate universe, your plot of land might be worth a lot more, so they'll just go right ahead and tax you on that speculative amount in the absence of any evidence.
That sounds very open to abuse.