Baltimore Thrive – https://baltimorethrive.org/ At Baltimore Thrive, we envision a city transformed by a land value tax shift and fair property assessments. Our mission is to create a more equitable Baltimore, where taxation promotes prosperity for all residents, not just a few. By advocating for a land value tax shift, we aim to address systemic inequities, reduce vacant property blight, and foster vibrant communities
David Bjorndalen joined the team as our second part-time coordinator along with Vanessa Beck. They are working together to connect politicians at the local and state level to support tax shift enabling legislation and tax parity legislation for Baltimore. They are also engaging community leaders in a coalition to address the issue of too low assessments on vacant lots. There is now progress along these lines with recent improvements in assessed values. Both Vanessa and David submit frequent reports with details of their excellent work.
Recent news coverage of the vacancies report: https://www.thebanner.com/community/housing/baltimore-vacant-property-tax-values-7W7R76JYBBHJ3IU75G4ZMP4FPM/
Proposed Legislation – https://baltimorethrive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Tax-Parity-LEGISLATIVE-LANGUAGE-2026.pdf
View substack articles / subscribe: https://landvaluetaxshift4maryland.substack.com/
Alan Feinberg organized a forum on property tax reform at Hood College in Frederick, MD. Josie Fass and Greg Miller were speakers.
The Virginia team reports that “earlier this session, Delegate McNamara (Roanoke) introduced HB 10 which would have authorized a land value return tax shift throughout VA for ALL taxing jurisdictions. Unfortunately, this bill was voted down along party lines (Democrats voting against this bill) in the House Finance Committee. Therefore, it will NOT have a hearing nor be advanced by the Committee to the floor for a full vote. (See ADDENDUM for discussion on VA.)
In Pennsylvania, Chapter President Alanna Hartzok in a conversation with LVT advocate Russel Ritchie in Philadelphia said: “I am getting considerable interest from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (main office in Philadelphia, oldest women’s peace organization founded 1915 by Georgist supporter Jane Adams) and they have invited me to give a talk on land value tax. The two movements – LVT and Public Banks (they currently support) – would go great together.” Next step for Philadelphia is to arrange a meeting with Russel and other LVT advocates along with Public Bank advocates to meet with former City Council member (and recent mayoral candidate) Derek Green who now serves on the Tax Commission and has expressed interested in both LVT and Public Banks.
Hartzok also had a substantial conversation with Andrew Boyd in Reading who is interested in creating a land value map for his city.
Chapter member Kenneth Barden has been active with the CGUSA Speakers Bureau and recently returned from Figo and Oman where he gave presentations and programs. Ken is a former long time professional with USAID.
Note to members of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter – Please send me any additions / corrections for this report. alannhartzok@gmail.com Phone: 717-357-7617
ADDENDUM
Chapter Members:
- Barden
- Beck
- Boyd
- Dodson
- Feullerman
- hartzok
- mayfield
- oMara
- Oman
- Rosen
- Rybeck
- Vincent
- Goldstein
ADDENDUM
Virginia correspondence between Tony Coughlin and Rick Rybeck:
Earlier this session, Delegate McNamara (Roanoke) introduced HB 10 which would have authorized a land value return tax shift throughout VA for ALL taxing jurisdictions. Unfortunately, this bill was voted down along party lines (Democrats voting against this bill) in the House Finance Committee. Therefore, it will NOT have a hearing nor be advanced by the Committee to the floor for a full vote.
However, will the House Finance Committee hold a hearing on the bills you mention below (for specific jurisdictions)? If so, could Virginia residents submit the following testimony:
“I support HB _____, to enable the application of different tax rates to land value assessments and improvement value assessments in [name of jurisdiction]. However, because this change would benefit all Virginia jurisdictions, I would recommend an amendment in the nature of a substitute. In particular:
[insert the language from HB 10]
Thank you for considering my views in support of HB ____.
Tony, please provide hearing dates and a link for submitting testimony.
If testimony such as that mentioned above is possible, I would encourage all of our Virginia colleagues to submit such testimony and to encourage their friends and allies to do the same for the sake of affordable housing, job creation, tax reductions (for residents and businesses while speculators would pay more), the more equitable sharing of infrastructure funding (those who benefit the most from public goods and services would pay the most), and sustainable development.
Regards,
Rick Rybeck, Director
Just Economics LLC
1669 Columbia Rd., NW, Suite 116
Washington, DC 20009-3625
202-439-4176
https://justeconomicsllc.com
Prosperity | Sustainability | Equity
From: Tony Coughlan <tonycoughlan@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 5, 2026 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: CGUSA members Virgina LVT issue
I wanted to update you all — Georgism continues to get some traction in Virginia. To remind you, under current law, four cities are allowed to tax improvements at a lower rate than land: Fairfax, Roanoke, Poquoson, and Richmond.
And now there are bills to expand that authorization to other cities in the Commonwealth:
House Bill 72 would add the City of Fredericksburg to the list of Virginia localities allowed to classify improvements to real property separately for real estate tax purposes and tax them at different rates, provided that the rate of tax on improvements (i) is not zero and (ii) does not exceed the rate of tax on the land on which it is located.
https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB72
House Bill 261 would add the City of Newport News to the list of Virginia localities allowed to classify improvements to real property separately for real estate tax purposes and tax them at different rates, provided that the rate of tax on improvements (i) is not zero and (ii) does not exceed the rate of tax on the land on which it is located.
https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB261
House Bill 282 would add the Cities of Charlottesville and Falls Church to the list of localities allowed to classify improvements to real property separately for real estate tax purposes and tax them at different rates, provided that the rate of tax on improvements (i) is not zero and (ii) does not exceed the rate of tax on the land on which it is located.