You’re correct that there are two separate policies here. It’s often the case that two parts of a strategy need to work together. This is the case here.

Also, I did actual research and found that our assessed values are close to 60% or real value. You’re 66% estimate is pretty close too.

As for hurting Hiltonia, yep big lots will suffer. A land tax policy discourages sprawl and encourages density. However, I suspect that because property values are relatively high in Hiltonia, you’d come out OK. The truth is that low value properties will be hurt worse than high value.

If we have a tax based on land value, then Hiltonia will really get wacked.

I’m recommending that 20% of the total tax be collected in the form of a land tax. Any impact on existing homes with this formula will be modest. (nothing compared to the increase we’ll have due to budget shortfalls).

However, I don’t have access to the tax role. If I did, I’d do a lot more analysis to discover exactly the right formula.

Mike, one thing is sure, our current tax structure is not working.

1) You are confusing the issue by throwing in a reassessment. That is a separate process that does not raise taxes by itself. By throwing that in, its difficult to follow your numbers. New assessments (to my knowledge) are adjusted to match up with existing assessed values.

2) I think that you will find that the assessed value in Trenton is actually about a third of the real value.

3) A land tax based on acreage might kill some of the better neighborhoods. I know that my property in Hiltonia would incur a $2000 tax increase if an avg property is considered about .05 acres. Take away the $1000 break in property taxes and I would still see a net increase of $1K, compared to your $60 increase for the “average” home. Some of the smaller houses on Walnut (where you want change) would actually see a decrease in taxes due to the small lot sizes.

I think the train of thought is good, it just needs to be tweaked to not be the major shift that you have it at. Basing it on land values and not acreage might do the trick.