A fundamental fact of economics is that when the household income of a large segment of the working population is increased, the cost of housing will over time also increase unless the supply of affordable housing increases. And, unfortunately, communities across the state are not allocating sufficient financial resources to the construction of new housing units affordable to lower income individuals and households. Over a few years, a good portion of the additional income coming to workers will be taken by apartment owners in the form of higher rents.
The problem is systemic and would only be addressed by the one measure that never seems to find its way on the agenda for political action: exempting the value of housing units from the tax base in favor of land values only. This is the only measure that would bring land prices down to affordable levels.
Edward J. Dodson
