Here’s a revenue idea that City Council should work on passing before next budget season: tax side yards appropriately. This Lincoln Park home at 2242 N Wayne is for sale for $2.7m. You’ll notice it has a side yard on the lot next door (2240 N Wayne). 🧵 - ThreadSky

mollyfleck.bsky.social • 110 days ago

Here’s a revenue idea that City Council should work on passing before next budget season: tax side yards appropriately.

This Lincoln Park home at 2242 N Wayne is for sale for $2.7m. You’ll notice it has a side yard on the lot next door (2240 N Wayne). 🧵

Comments

logicalfrank.com•110 days ago

Agree. The side lots are absolutely a luxury and our tax policy should not make them cheap.

I have wondered how it works for houses that take up what would otherwise be multiple lots just by being huge. There's a couple by me that take up 3-4 lots based on the houses across the street.

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

Because property taxes are really about improvements to the land, the owner of a 3-lot home would be paying 3x the taxes. Side yards are a problem because they're only minimally "improved" compared to a lot with a building on it. Land value tax would solve this.

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

In 2023, the owners of this home paid $45,730 in property taxes for 2242 (the lot with their house on it), and $7,849 on the yard located at 2240. That’s a big difference and a lot of tax revenue left on the table! But there’s more…

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

The current owners of 2242 tore down housing to create their side yard! In 2015, when 2240 was still occupied by housing, they paid $14,459 in property taxes. They actually got a *discount* for destroying housing in a dense, desirable neighborhood!

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

The empty lot’s next door neighbor, 2238 N Wayne, is an old, small workers cottage. Last year, its owner paid $20,734 property taxes, more than 2.5x what their neighbors paid for their “vacant” yard. That’s not fair to anyone.

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

Side yards are prevalent in high-income areas like Lincoln Park and Wicker Park. It’s already bad enough that they could (and should) be used for much-needed housing, but their owners aren’t even paying their fair share of taxes on their very valuable land. Let’s fix that.

chap.bsky.social•110 days ago

Lakeview too. *gestures towards Waguespack*

localcelebrity.bsky.social•107 days ago

A friend of mine pointed out that the way our property tax system works, there is a finite amount they collect, so when you add units it reduces the tax burden for each other property rather than increasing amount of money.

that-person.bsky.social•110 days ago

When I was working an architecture internship in November, I needed to do work for someone who had demolished their neighbor’s house in order to build themselves a pool house. Their existing house is already triple-lot width with their neighbors being a double-lot.

Just Lincoln Park things

starlinechicago.bsky.social•110 days ago

Land value tax mentioned

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

There are some downsides to a LVT, but yes, pretty much.

pyradius.bsky.social•109 days ago

Land rent is either publicly collected or privately captured. It is a measure of the exclusion of others and a measure of public service costs toward equally benefited land. So there aren’t really any downsides to it although many do draw flawed conclusions based on concepts like ‘ability to pay’.

simplicio.bsky.social•109 days ago

What do you see as the downsides?

mollyfleck.bsky.social•108 days ago

The biggest one is that it’s hard to implement. It would be a massive lift to reassess hundreds of thousands of lots across the city. It could also screw some longtime homeowners in now-expensive areas in the short term.

starlinechicago.bsky.social•108 days ago

In theory with reassessments every three years it can be phased in, and I think we could figure out homeowner exemptions/credits for middle-class homeowners who live in the sole property they own

mollyfleck.bsky.social•108 days ago

You could apply it to just certain geographic areas. Maybe the criteria is proximity to transit and/or a certain level of population density, IDK. It does seem counterproductive to apply it to, say, Englewood, but it would be really beneficial on much of the north side.

lakebiglake.bsky.social•110 days ago

This would have to be decided in Springfield, but yes.

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

Say more. I thought this would be a county thing...

lakebiglake.bsky.social•110 days ago

The county performs the assessments, but it’s done according to state law.

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

Thank you!

mclean.bsky.social•110 days ago

!ping @urbanenviroil.bsky.social

buzzneon.bsky.social•99 days ago

Would love to see big taxes for vacant commercial (retail) space; ideally with increases each year. There’s retail in west Lakeview (near Lincoln/Belmont/Ashland) that’s been vacant for 7 years!

kleinwalder.bsky.social•110 days ago

There's lots like this in Ukrainian Village and I hate them!

mclean.bsky.social•110 days ago

This is happening all over my neighborhood. Popular conversion: 3 flat turns into a basketball court or a swimming pool

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

A swimming pool?!?!

mclean.bsky.social•110 days ago

Don't want to dox myself, but there's an Italian villa-style mansion nearby with a pool in the lot next door. The high schoolers throw ragers when the parents are out of town (which seems to be all the time)

Also, they NEVER shovel their sidewalk. And its next to a popular library. Assholes.

irishbelle07.bsky.social•110 days ago

All that money and the parents won't even put in heated sidewalks?

mollyfleck.bsky.social•110 days ago

There's a mansion on my block with these. Genius.

irishbelle07.bsky.social•110 days ago

My partner's condo in LP voted against them... woulda paid for themselves in just a few years for what they pay for snow removal services

mclean.bsky.social•110 days ago

Right?!?!! That's like high on my list of things to do if I ever own a lot with a lot of money

skeach101.bsky.social•110 days ago

Tax Trust Fund Babies

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