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Land tax alternative for rail development |
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Peter Gibb, the Henry George Foundation UK's new chief executive and director of Land Reform Scotland, has argued that Land Value Tax is a radical alternative to plans for congestion charging in Edinburgh to fund the city's rail network.
SPEAKING at a conference on the future of Scotland's railways, Gibb introduced LVT as the best way to fund development. It was well received by the delegates, who included Lewis MacDonald MSP the Deputy Minister for Transport.
Gibb said: “Currently we require public infrastructure to be put in place at vast pain to the taxpayer, from who it seems more money can never be enough. “At the same time we seem to remain blind to the fact that real and identifiable benefit from the new services the public has provided, has been ’externalised' from the infrastructure development process, and is giving huge bounties to private interests, through escalating land value, without any effort or input on their part.
“The introduction of land value taxation allows the recouping of such unearned profits for the public purse.
The only other options put forward were congestion charging already a controversial proposal for London and the issuing of railway bonds. The need for a system of funding was underlined by Edinburgh councillor Andrew Burns who said £1 billion was needed to fund the plans for trams and crossrail links throughout the Scottish capital.
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