But the high taxes merely a symptom of high property values, which are the root cause of the problem. Taxes are necessary or there would be no incentive to repurpose properties for maximum utilization. In fact SF property tax rates are lower than most other states.

The problem is some sort of artificial constraint on property supply, making land both under-utilized and increasing its value to enrich the incumbent landowners! The bulk of the benefits goes to the landowners still—before, and during growth.

Taxes ensure that current landowners cannot keep all the profit, but if they owned the land before the prices skyrocketed, they're still the main beneficiaries of all the cash flowing in.