The Digital Press

This article explains how to model a land value tax (LVT) shift in a city using an open-source library called LVTShift, demonstrated with South Bend, Indiana as an example. It walks through defining the policy, gathering and understanding property data, recreating current tax revenues, and analyzing the effects of shifting tax burdens from buildings to land.

Why it matters: LVT modeling helps policymakers predict economic and equity impacts of shifting taxes onto land rather than buildings, potentially encouraging better land use.

The big picture: The article offers a replicable framework to make LVT analysis accessible to cities, supporting informed tax reform debates nationwide.

Quick takeaway: The LVTShift tool uses real property data and tax rules to estimate property-level tax changes, allowing detailed demographic and geographic impact studies.

Commenters say: Users appreciate the depth and openness of the tool but express concerns about complexity, data quality, and scalability for large cities like NYC.