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Comment by leetcrew | Hacker News Reader

> Being proximate to a train station has a 20-50% positive benefit to home prices.

> Why can't we tax the property owners (I am one) benefiting from proximity to the train stations?

don't you pay property tax based on the value of your home? if so, this is already happening.

It's true that property taxes are based on the assessment of a home, but it's also not necessarily true that the assessment does a good enough approximation to consider that any house within 1mi of the train is worth 20% more than one 1.5mi away. From my hobby of looking at home appraisals in Boston towns it seems the biggest factor in most towns is square footage.

Another point to consider is that most towns in Massachusetts seem to use replacement cost as the main method of appraisal versus potential income/value. Meaning, 2 families appraise for nearly the same as a single family when they are in reality worth 1.5-2x more in potential income via rent or selling.

Either it adds value or it doesn't, if square footage is the main thing then it doesn't add as much value you as think.

This is the beautiful thing about prices - we let individuals decide what something is worth. Perhaps we don't need new taxes but just better assessors and planning.

It does add value in the real market. It doesn't add value according to the town property assessor. There's a disconnect between reality and property taxes.

So the argument against dedicated infrastructure taxes like this, is that it takes tax money away from other things that also need it.

Generally speaking, increased development will also require not just roads and transit, but investments in water, electric, sewer, schools, police, fire, etc. If you dedicate funding for one thing it takes away from something else, and you really don’t want to turn a general funds tax bill into dozens of line-items that get nitpicked and fought over constantly.

Boston property taxes are low at a ~1% rate, and as others have noted the assessed price is not the price I would sell the home for. In Massachusetts you also get a ~1500 dollar tax credit for your primary residence.

In California property taxes are 1.x rate, and the assessed price is based essentially on when your ancestors bought it, with a 2% increase.

Which leads to comedy like this: https://twitter.com/nextdoorsv/status/1265719788875272192

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