Common Ground U.S.A.

Property Taxes Aren’t the Cause of Our Housing Crisis, They’re a Solution to It

Apr 21, 2026 | Groundswell

Taxing land and buildings at different rates can discourage land speculation and encourage housing development. Property taxes, which tend to increase along with home prices, are often painted as drivers of unaffordability. Following years of strong real estate market...

Local Law to Create a New York City Land Bank Passes

Mar 1, 2026 | Groundswell

NYC Council Introduction 570, introduced and sponsored by upper west side council member Gale Brewer in 2024 has passed the council into law. The official legislation ledger says: “Subject to the approval of the New York State Urban Development Corporation, this...

Replacing the Current 4-Class Property Tax in New York City with a Land Value Tax (Updated 3/15/26)

Feb 26, 2026 | Articles, Groundswell, Video

By Scott Baker and Grok 5 Version 2.0: https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=2032118973647515773 A major land value reassessment in my and Grok’s original paper: Replacing the Current 4-Class Property Tax in New York City with a Land Value Tax, published below on 2/26/26...

CGUSA members make progress but get stalled on Virginia LVT bill

Feb 5, 2026 | Groundswell

Ed: The following is an email thread showing progress on a recent Virginia Land Value Tax effort. It is presented here as a follow-up to a posting on the member Google group, but without some email addresses, which members may not desire to be publicly available....

The Rent is Too Dam High

Nov 1, 2025 | Groundswell

Greetings and salutations Mr. Zohran Mamdani: There is no doubt you have identified the problem: “The rent is too damned high”. You are anamazing personality, and I have every expectation that you will become the next Mayor. Yourchallenge will be to...