Reply to Why does Montgomery County Subsidize Taxes for Country Clubs?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They are taxed per-acre not on land value, just like all land in the massive agricultural reserve. They pay double the per-acre rate of Ag Reserve land. Both preserve green spaces.[/quote]

Therein lies the problem. They need to be taxed on the land value, the same way residential and commercial lots are.

Golf courses aren’t farms, they don’t grow food for people or contribute anything meaningful. They also aren’t nature preserves, they are completely artificial environments that require massive amounts of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and gasoline powered lawnmowers to keep nature at bay, and prevent the area from becoming an *actual* green space. They are vast biological dead-zones.

Golf courses and country clubs are THE most selfish and wasteful uses of open spaces. They need to be taxed at the highest rates conceivable, to reduce the number that currently exist, and to make those that remain pay mightily for the privilege. [/quote]

[b]We have private property rights here in the US,[/b] which is a good thing.  So, get a life.[/quote]

Then why do they need a public subsidy? Tax 'em the [b][u]market[/u][/b] rate.

I thought people like you loved free markets?[/quote]

+1  All this bill is proposing is that country clubs pay the same rates other businesses and property owners do.  This is a no brainer.  Does anyone know the status of this bill?[/quote]

Not that simple.  Unlike businesses and most other property owners, golf courses and open spaces require few County resources and save the County substantial money.  No road, schools, public safety expenses  They also provide proven environmental pluses to the region.  Policy rationale is simple.   Lower tax rates for open spaces as an incentive to save open spaces, particularly in dense areas.  Farmland is another example.  Many types of properties get tax breaks.  Colleges, schools, religious organizations, nonprofit recreational facilities.

[/quote]

No, that's not correct.  Foregoing tax revenue that would be due to the County if the property were used in another way is not "saving the County substantial money."   Other businesses don't require schools or road expenditures either, and as for public safety expenses, when I visited a club one night, there was a fire truck there, responding to an alarm, so it's not accurate that they don't cost any money in public safety expenses.  If you want to benefit people with open spaces, make the country club into a public park.  But there's no reason to subsidize the pleasure of a select few.[/quote]

Yes, it is.  Multiple errors.  If open space land is used for other purposes, residential or commercial, MC, of course, must spend for more roads, more or bigger public schools (more students) and public safety (more people).  Higher density (workers or residents) means higher burden.  The logic for tax breaks for open spaces (which breaks exist in dozens of states) is that they reduce burdens on government.  Sames with tax breaks for agricultural land, which breaks exist in MC and elsewhere in MD.  Take note that the land used for buildings are already taxed at the higher rate.  Yes, golf courses could be public parks, but then the County would have to maintain them, spending substantial tax revenues to do so.  Now, as with other private recreational facilities, they are maintained with private dollars, while paying some taxes.  Public parks pay no taxes by definition and cost the County money.  Environmentalists recognize that open space land offer many environmental benefits that are not paid for by the public thru tax dollars.  With private golf courses, as with private agricultural land, we get the environmental benefits without paying anything other than foregoing some tax revenues.
[/quote]

What you meant to write is that a select few get to enjoy the environmental benefits, while the rest of Maryland pays a higher tax rate to subsidize the activities  of the ultrarich.[/quote]

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