I always link people unfamiliar with Land Value Tax to this book review of Progress and Poverty, the book which put the concept of a Land Value Tax on the map.
Simply put, Land value tax is a tax on the unimproved value of land. It also can be thought of as _location_ value tax. Property tax typically includes both land value tax and the value of the improvements to the land - buildings, etc.
While they may sound similar, land value tax and property tax lead to vastly different outcomes.
The problem with such a tax is the same problem all other taxes and businesses that do not properly align their incentives have.
Ultimately the ones paying are not the ones making the decisions.
I'm all for a land area tax, but such a tax must necessarily come with political reforms to ensure the proceeds of said tax are used in the manner that the payer of the tax decides.
Ceding political and budgetary power to wealthier portion of citizens does not seem like a good way to maintain a healthy society. Even the poor deserve a say in how they will be governed, and where collected taxes will go.
That wouldn't impact housing prices. From shareholder standpoint, there isn't much difference between dividends and stock buybacks. Stock buybacks can potentially reduce tax liability for some shareholders.
The benefits of a LVT go beyond inner city housing issues though. Of the top ten states with the highest poverty rates in the US - nine are red. If you're unfortunate enough to be part of the (one in five!) impoverished residents of Mississippi you want to see property taxes reduced and undeveloped land decentivized because every dollar saved in pursuit of affordable housing stretches further.
https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/your-book-review-progr...
It's thorough, informative, and surprisingly funny for a book review.