Detroit wants to be the first big American city to tax land value

Re:Detroit wants to be the first big American city to tax la... by hn_throwaway_99 on Tuesday October 17, 2023 @02:46AM (#37911426)

Not at all, and any property assessor will tell you this (e.g. property assessments usually already separate land vs improvements). Nearly all houses are insured, so it's easy to calculate land value as sales price - insured value, basically because insurance only covers the cost of the house.

Plus, nearly all locales either have empty lots that are sold, or if there is no more room have houses that are sold as teardowns, and in either case that gives you an unambiguous land value.

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Re:Detroit wants to be the first big American city to tax la... by HDThoreaun on Tuesday October 17, 2023 @10:40AM (#37915856)

The thing about land is that there are a million reasons why one lot might be worth a different amount than one next door. A single lot selling in a neighborhood tells you little about the rest of the land prices in the area because of that. Maybe that lot is on a hill or next to a busy street or everyone knows the neighbor is a giant asshole. All these things change the price on a micro level and are impossible to disentangle.

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