The Single Tax Takes Root in Everett
Following a recent election, the approval of a single tax amendment signals a shift in local economic policy and the influence of Henry George's theories.
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So after all one amendment to the city charter survived the wreck of last week's election. That the single tax amendment carried while all others went down to defeat is significant of the spread of the Henry George theory of taxation. Single taxers may well take heart, for the 'world do move.' Ten years ago the man who advocated exemption of improvements from taxation was accounted a fool or a fanatic or both. Today an ever-increasing percentage of voters is firmly convinced that our present system is a tax on thrift and industry and that such a tax is tyranny. It is not at all unlikely that ten years hence will see the burden of taxation placed entirely upon the land speculator and monopolist. We be a-movin'!
“Today an ever-increasing percentage of voters is firmly convinced that our present system is a tax on thrift and industry and that such a tax is tyranny.”
Everett's early 20th-century experiment with 'single tax' ideals—shifting the tax burden from building improvements to land value—foreshadows modern debates about land-value taxation as a solution to housing affordability and speculative land hoarding.
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