Monday, Aug 02, 2010
Window tax, American style
C is for Candy: Form Follows Tax Laws
It’s all thanks to New Orleans’ tax laws and people trying to get Best Value. The government taxed property based on lot frontage; so people made their houses as narrow as possible. The government taxed two-story houses more; so people added second floors to the rear, where it didn’t count. The government taxed houses based on the number of rooms; so people didn’t make closets or hallways, which counted as rooms. And presto, the Best Value House looks like this: [lots of amusing pictures in the article]
Posted by drewster @ 11:43 PM (511 views) Add Comment
4 Comments
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1. mark wadsworth said...
It wasn't a window tax, it was a frontage tax. See also, houses on the canals in Amsterdam.
It is an accepted fact in valuation circles that the bit of the shop with the window is the most valuable bit, i.e. a shop that is 100 foot deep is not worth five times as much as one that is only 20 foot deep.
Or to put it another way, if you owned a block in the middle of town and divided it up into lots of tiny units, you could rent out the ten square yards within five yards of the pavement at ground level for three times as much as the unit at the back of the building, and the units on the first floor would only be worth half as much rent as the ones on the ground floor and so on.
The same applies to LVT. The rental value of the few yards at the river's edge is infinitely more than another site that is set fifty or a hundred yards back. This is absolutely nothing like the Window Tax which was just plain daft (there was no shortage of glass, and by having windows you are not taking anything away from anybody).
2. drewster said...
The bit of the shop with the window is the most valuable bit, yes. That doesn't usually apply to houses though.
rc: utopian monsoons
3. mark wadsworth said...
D, true, most people like the house set back a bit, but in terms of "frontage tax" it still isn't such a bad idea - it costs the council money to maintain roads and streetlights (but not back gardens); narrower frontages mean shorter walk for the postman or policeman; drains and telephone cables don't need to be so long etc etc.
4. drewster said...
I agree, it's a neat idea. Probably explains why New Orleans is more walkable and more liveable than most U.S. cities.