Question re: Gentrification and Taxes

[isabel]

One of the reasons that gentrification hits communities of color so hard is that it forces people out of their homes due to increased property taxes that they cannot afford, right? Do any states attempt to correct this by grandfather-ing property tax rates for residents who have lived in their homes for a certain amount of time? Mostly thinking about this in terms of when rates skyrocket, not standard annual increases that are generally small.

[atarianna]

My guess is that states wouldn’t do anything that would adversely impact their own coffers. Ultimately the POC or poor aren’t the priority, even in heavily democratic states when budgets are being cut, increased revenue becomes the priority.

[y4m]

Yea California does this. It’s called prop 13. Not aimed specifically at POC but it basically locks property taxes at the rate they were when the property first entered a family.

[kadams767]

This isn't exactly your question, but another big part of this is that the communities also tend to consist of proportionately less homeowners in the first place, and the displaced people are actually often times renters whose rent gets increased to offset the increased taxes of the landlords.

[goldengirlz]

Nov 24, 2017 14:51:31 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

This isn't exactly your question, but another big part of this is that the communities also tend to consist of proportionately less homeowners in the first place, and the displaced people are actually often times renters whose rent gets increased to offset the increased taxes of the landlords.

I think this is actually the crux of the issue with gentrification, not necessarily property taxes.

Because if you look at places like Oakland, certainly Proposition 13 has done little to slow down the tide of newcomers.

[winecat]

Denver grandfathers/lowers property taxes for seniors.

I moved into my neighborhood long before the gentrification started. My current property taxes are over 25% of my total monthly payment. I can imagine how hard this is hitting my neighbors who have been here longer than me.

[livinitup]

NYC addressed this in the ‘50s and ‘60s housing boom with rent control/rent Stabilization laws that favored tenants and prevented landlords from evicting tenants, hiking rents above a few percent a year, and require ongoing repairs/maintance.

Those protections received a good deal of criticism from big-money owners who wanted to maximize the rent they got no matter who it displaced. So, a good deal of deregulation went into effect in the 1970s, and less than half of NCY apartments were still regulated a few years ago. And sadly, even fewer actually followed the laws governing rent regulation, so market-rate and wild fluctuations are now very common.

[nomad100]

Michigan has something like this on a limited scale. Tax increases and property valuation increases are capped to a max amount every year. So they still go up but less than if it had a new owner and the property value was uncapped.

[isabel]

Nov 24, 2017 14:51:31 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

This isn't exactly your question, but another big part of this is that the communities also tend to consist of proportionately less homeowners in the first place, and the displaced people are actually often times renters whose rent gets increased to offset the increased taxes of the landlords.

That's a good point. And even if taxes didn't increase, landlords could still refuse to renew leases because they know they can increase their rents anyway as a neighborhood gentrifies and becomes a more expensive area to live. 

[msmerymac]

Philadelphia has a program people can apply to that locks in your rate, but you have to be in your house x number of years and I think your property had to triple to classify as a gentrifying neighborhood.

[sonrisa]

Nov 24, 2017 15:23:09 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Nov 24, 2017 14:51:31 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

This isn't exactly your question, but another big part of this is that the communities also tend to consist of proportionately less homeowners in the first place, and the displaced people are actually often times renters whose rent gets increased to offset the increased taxes of the landlords.

I think this is actually the crux of the issue with gentrification, not necessarily property taxes.

Because if you look at places like Oakland, certainly Proposition 13 has done little to slow down the tide of newcomers.

Yes. And prop 13 has had the exact opposite consequence of protecting people from gentrification. It has driven the ridiculous housing price surges and protects corporate interests foremost.

It needs to be amended drastically.