What if Baltimore could lower property taxes on homeowners and small businesses while raising them on blighted, vacant, and speculator-held land, at no net cost to the city? Zac talks with Vanessa Beck of Baltimore Thrive about the land value tax shift, a policy that splits the property tax into two rates: one on land, one on buildings, and shifts the burden away from productive use and onto speculation.

Vanessa walks through how the shift would actually change Baltimore's commercial corridors and vacant lots, the real-world results from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where vacant properties dropped from over 5,000 to a few hundred, and how the policy is designed to be revenue-neutral rather than a tax increase. Zac and Vanessa also dig into where the state-level legislation stands, what a land value tax shift would mean for over-assessed neighborhoods in West, East, and South Baltimore, and what happens next as Baltimore Thrive pushes for state enabling legislation.

Learn more or get involved: baltimorethrive.org

Contact

Have a question, story idea, or feedback for the show? Reach out to Zac Blanchard's office:

• Show Website: https://blanchardbaltimore.transistor.fm/
• Councilman's Official Page: https://www.baltimorecity.gov/city-council/zac-blanchard-district-11
• Email: zachary.blanchard@baltimorecity.gov

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