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by ghayes 2017 days ago
Do you have a viable alternative to property taxes for raising municipal revenues? Additionally, certain acts like California Prop 13 of 1978 attempt to solve the problem you’re addressing but, in my opinion, ended up causing much more harm than good.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_California_Proposition_...

2 comments

Yes but it is like a complete rewrite of the tax code if you are American. In my country we just don't have municipal taxes. Municipalities have reduced responsibility. All the important services are funded directly from central governments. So you don't get problems like underfunded schools and such. Municipalities get pocket money also from the central government and are only in charge of less important infrastructure and service.

There is no property tax, but we have capital gains taxes based on transfers of assets.

> Do you have a viable alternative to property taxes for raising municipal revenues?

Income and/or sales tax.

This isn't an argument against funding government on sales and income tax alone, but income from those is more volatile in recessions that property tax, so it takes a fiscally responsible government for that to work.