imperaman t1_iw5k2wq wrote
Reply to comment by puptrait in Why can’t any restaurants survive here by aphid123
Why doesn't Baltimore have a vacancy tax? It would seem like a no-brainer, and a popular thing for a politician to run on, or to have a referendum for. DC charges 5% for vacant buildings, and 10% for blighted buildings. Baltimore charges the same 2.3% regardless of the state of the building. If Baltimore raised the tax rate on vacant/blighted buildings, they could afford to lower the rate for everyone else.
SaveFailsafe t1_iw5l8bo wrote
One need only look into who owns the most vacants to discover why the city won't entertain a vacancy tax.
fredblockburn t1_iw6tkg4 wrote
Who’s that?
SaveFailsafe t1_iw75mwc wrote
The city government itself owns roughly 10% of the vacants. The rest are privately owned, but behind all the various LLCs are a few big money institutions squatting on property for speculative reasons. Institutions with lobbying power. Like Hopkins.
WildMikeGreen38 t1_iw9fx58 wrote
> vacancy tax
Renting out places and making them rentable isn't an easy task. It takes money, time, effort and patience that people don't always have. It also ignores lawsuits, issues with the house that you don't know of and millions of other things.
If people are leaving a rentable place that can make them money empty, there's probably a real good reason for it. This is coming from someone who had all kinds of issues with mortgage companies, repairmen and bad tenants.
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