[sustran] Re: FW: Land Value Taxation Event 23/04/03

[Craig Townsend]

Eric makes good points about the US. Similarly, in Canadian cities the level 
of transparency surrounding mass public transport projects (usually rail) is 
very high. Costs of public transport projects and operations are the subject 
of a high level of public scrutiny and debate. There is a big debate going on 
now in Vancouver about a proposed rail line, and due to extensive news 
coverage anyone who reads the newspaper has a good understanding of the costs 
involved and the various debates surrounding the project: e.g. see today's 
Vancouver Sun newspaper http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.asp?
id=30BD1DF4-E7CC-42BD-AA5C-D3D310ACF9E0). The level of transparency 
surrounding road projects is typically much lower. 

One point that I would like to make about value capture is that it is worth 
clarifying who is capturing value. A form of indirect value capture by 
government (and hence in theory all sectors of society) from transport 
infrastructure improvements does occur in Australia because the improvements 
raise the market value of adjacent lands. Those increases are reflected in the 
level of property assessment and will result in more tax revenue to the 
government. The situation is different in Bangkok where there are only small 
administrative charges on land owners, but no taxation based on assessed 
market value. The Bangkok Transit System is a privately owned and operated 
rail rapid transit system. The owners of the system make deals with other 
corporations, businesspeople, and landowners to mutually increase their 
revenue, but government institutions are not really involved. 

Craig Townsend

Quoting Eric Bruun <ericbruun at earthlink.net>:

> 
> I want to point out that in some places, public transport agencies are
> specfically not allowed to use land value capture. It would take changes in
> laws first.
> 
> Secondly, the lack of transparency about costs for public transport projects
> is certainly not true in the US. The Federal government requires all kinds
> of documentation about local/state contributions and about future operating
> cost supports for public transport projects before it contributes. This is
> then used by the highway lobby to point out how expensive public transport
> is. But the truth is that there is no matching requirement for highway
> projects, especially not about the operating and maintenance costs. This is
> good for the highway lobby, because much of the operating support comes from
> property taxes and general taxation, not from user taxes.
> 
> Eric Bruun
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karl Fjellstrom" <karl at dnet.net.id>
> To: <sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 23, 2003 5:05 AM
> Subject: [sustran] Re: FW: Land Value Taxation Event 23/04/03
> 
> 
> > Dear Paul & Craig, sorry for the delayed response.
> >
> > Bogota implemented a value capture scheme along the TransMilenio
> > (www.transmilenio.gov.co) lines which was apparently (according to the
> > Mayor of the time) successful in recouping some of the windfall gains
> > which accrued to land ownwers along the TransMilenio route. This value
> > capture is an important part of the funding arrangement for the ongoing
> > expansion of the system.
> >
> > The COO of Bangkok's Skytrain system in March gave a presentation to the
> > Thai-German Chamber of Commerce where he outlined major increases in
> > property values in proximity to the Skytrain stations; especially for
> > commercial premises like shopping malls. Responding to a question, he
> > said however that there was no plan for any kind of tax/charge to
> > capture the windfall gains to the owners of these premises, but that
> > they to some extent capture these gains by imposing charges for the
> > commercial premises to establish walkway connections to the Skytrain
> > stations.
> >
> > Similarly in Brisbane, when it is proposed to the transit officials
> > express strong interest in some form of value capture to fund system
> > expansion, though nothing like that has been implemented there. What's
> > the catch? Here's my conspiracy theory: there is often an incredible
> > dearth of transparency and open debate surrounding all issues of mass
> > transit system cost, especially when it comes to rail metros. It's only
> > when there is no financial black hole to hide, such as in Bogota's bus
> > rapid transit system, that you might see these options openly canvassed.
> > (Political commitment helps too, of course...)
> >
> > Regards
> > Karl Fjellstrom