View Tax, Coming Soon to Your Neighboorhood?

[Texsox]

'View Tax' Triggers Revolt in Rural N.H.

Oct 31 6:20 PM US/Eastern

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By KATHARINE WEBSTER

Associated Press Writer

 

ORFORD, N.H.

 

The one-room cabin David Bischoff built in a cow pasture three years ago has no electricity, no running water, no phone service and no driveway. What it does have is a wide-open view of nearby hills and distant mountains _ which makes it seven times more valuable than if it had no view, according to the latest townwide property assessment. He expects his property taxes to shoot up accordingly.

 

Bischoff and other Orford residents bitterly call that a "view tax," and they are leading a revolt against it that has gained support in many rural towns in New Hampshire.

 

State officials say there is no such thing as a "view tax" _ it is a "view factor," and it has always been a part of property assessments. The only change is that views have become so valuable in some towns that assessors are giving them a separate line on appraisal records.

 

The change has stirred passions in Orford, a town of 1,040 that overlooks the Connecticut River and has views of neighboring Vermont and the White Mountains.

 

One big reason the reassessment has alarmed townspeople in Orford and beyond is that housing prices _ and consequently property taxes _ are shooting up in New England because of an influx of vacation-home buyers and retirees willing to pay top dollar for beautiful views.

 

The Orford Board of Selectmen, of which Bischoff is chairman, voted in September to set aside the revaluation by Avitar Associates of New England until the Legislature comes up with objective standards for valuing views.

 

More linked here for you reading pleasure.

 

A couple key quotes IMHO

 

"We're going to drive the people off the land who have been living on it and working it for generations," Thomson said. "It's going to destroy our No. 1 industry: tourism."

 

The state has no general income or sales tax, and the resulting high property taxes are hardest on those who are land- rich but income-poor.

 

Nasty downward cycle. The lack of development increases your property value. You have to sell to a developer to pay your taxes, and the very views that raised your values, gets worse.