Taxes and Urban Sprawl

A fine is a tax for doing something wrong. A tax is a fine for doing something well. Traditional methods of property taxation not only penalize property owners for improving their property but also encourages sprawl. Most of the was that this is happening is unintentional and there are several alternatives but it will take an overhaul of our current system to improve. Towns and local communities generally plan their growth and objectives on the …

…revenues from them are met with the great resistance. People do not always accept capabilities of change or believe that new methods will be viable. The incentives of the alternatives are not as apparent as the immediate gratification of conventional methods. It is also difficult to find uniform goals and methods that meet then needs of each individual community in a region. Finally, the implementation of the changes could prove only difficult if not impossible.