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Joshua Vincent: Posted on Monday, May 07, 2012 3:39 PM
Philadelphia Pennsylvania like most cities, counties and states have had to deal with tight budgets for nearly half a decade. For many reasons, not least of which are legacy expenses, revenue requirements will be increasing even as economies at the local and regional level still react sluggishly as the great recession of 2008 begins its ebb tide. A complicating factor in Philadelphia's fiscal struggle is the reality that it's tax system is nearly unique in United States as the |
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Joshua Vincent: Posted on Friday, April 20, 2012 11:49 AM
Independence? Perhaps, but not likely
Recently, an
active and conservative member of the Republican Party in central Pennsylvania
sent UrbanTools a copy of something called the "Property
Tax Independence Act" (PTIA)
with the interesting subtitle of "Liberty Equality and
Prosperity". The legislation – more
accurately a proposal for a constitutional amendment in the state of
Pennsylvania – Is given a seemingly official sobriquet of “House
Bill 1776.”
As yet, this is not an
actual bill however. |
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jrv: Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 2:18 PM
Dr. Herbert Barry of Pittsburgh, an UrbanTools Director has shown his adeptness in outreach to all forms of media, including print and now radio. Please call in to the radio show on Friday March 30, to participate in this broadcast.
 I will be interviewed on a radio show, on Friday 30 March 2012, 10:00 to 10:30 AM (Eastern time). Listeners can access it at the phone number 1-424-220-1873. The title I chose for the program is "How to remedy our maladaptive sources of government revenue. |
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Joshua Vincent: Posted on Friday, January 13, 2012 5:35 PM
UrbanTools got underway as the Henry George Foundation of America in Pittsburgh in 1926. Through the years, some of the most respected elected officials in Western Pennsylvania such as Pennsylvania Gov. David Lawrence, and mayors Scully and McNair served on our Board of Directors.
During those 85+ years, Pittsburgh and other Allegheny County cities and school districts have utilized land value taxation as a tool to discourage private land banking and to encourage all levels of investment and labor inside municipal boundaries. |
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Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2011 2:11 PM
Three Cities, One Tax: Altoona, Sydney, Copenhagen
The beginning of 2011 saw the introduction of a city property tax that fell on land values only, unique in the history of US cities. Altoona joined Sydney, Copenhagen and hundreds of other cities that have found land value taxation a simple, effective and reliable source of revenue without causing the distortionary effects of other taxes such as sales, wage or building taxes.
The budget for 2012 has just passed, with the Altoona Mirror reporting the rationale for the land value tax, as well as challenges that lie ahead for the city. It looks as if land value tax may be here to stay, if adjustments are made each year for changing revenue needs and real estate values. Altoona may now be ready to start replacing such taxes as the local income tax or business taxes with LVT, to better position itself for a devoutly desired economic recovery. |
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Josh Vincent: Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 3:06 PM
1506 Dagmar, Pittsburgh. Owner? RDF, LLC 44 Wall Street, NY NY
An articlein last month's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the woes of just one area in Pittsburgh affected by an absentee landlord led UrbanTools to write a letter to the editor after some basic research. Turns out this house is one of hundreds or even thousands owned by an LLC named "Res Distressed Fund." Incorporated under as many as 9 names in Delaware, Res has a litany of unpaid fines, taxes and generally help drag down ever more distressed neighborhoods. |
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JRV: Posted on Monday, November 14, 2011 1:30 PM
Last week, the distressed
city of Reading, Pennsylvania elected city Council President Vaughn Spencer
as mayor. Mr. Spencer is a longtime
supporter of innovative ways to finance city government and encourage development
and capital investment as a means to reverse nearly 5 decades of decline.
For years, Mr. Spencer has asked that the land value tax be
part of a comprehensive package of fiscal reforms that will keep revenue stable
will not repelling the growth of private-sector commerce and the middle-class
workers needed to stabilize neighborhoods and the tax base. |
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