Should undevelopable land adjacent to a formerly rural developed area pay taxes as though it were developed, while giving the developed adjacent land two tax breaks?
If the land is undevelopable, it doesn’t really matter who does what with it. If the tax exceeds the value anyone can get out of it, it will default to the government (who will always buy land at $0). The government may not be a great land manager, but there’s nothing to be done with this land anyway. If there’s rural land nearby that is developable, maybe the land is actually a bit more valuable than the way it is currently being used, so it’s not such a problem if the property tax is higher.
“Undevelopable” does not mean “utterly without use”. An area that can’t be paved over and built up because it would cause watershed damage might still be usable for grazing cattle. A city block surrounded by blocks that have variances from the building height code is worth less, not worthless.
Should undevelopable land adjacent to a formerly rural developed area pay taxes as though it were developed, while giving the developed adjacent land two tax breaks?
If the land is undevelopable, it doesn’t really matter who does what with it. If the tax exceeds the value anyone can get out of it, it will default to the government (who will always buy land at $0). The government may not be a great land manager, but there’s nothing to be done with this land anyway. If there’s rural land nearby that is developable, maybe the land is actually a bit more valuable than the way it is currently being used, so it’s not such a problem if the property tax is higher.
“Undevelopable” does not mean “utterly without use”. An area that can’t be paved over and built up because it would cause watershed damage might still be usable for grazing cattle. A city block surrounded by blocks that have variances from the building height code is worth less, not worthless.