Whereas, monopolization of land and denying access to it creates poverty. In Leviticus 25:23-25, God commanded: "The land shall not be sold forever; for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all of your land of your possession, you shall grant a redemption for the land. If your brother be waxen poor, and has sold away some of his possessions, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold."
Whereas, a modern-day prophet Henry George, after laboring with the question of why increasing wealth is accompanied by deepening poverty, concluded that poverty, inequality, and conflict are not the inevitable results of natural laws, but the results of an unenlightened social organization that fails to follow the moral law for all. Equality in politics without an equal right to land is a meaningless form of equality. Since the concentration of people in a city drives up land values, George proposed land value taxation, concluding that justice would be served by the community reclaiming for itself the increase in land values, as opposed to the land speculator receiving the "unearned increment."
Whereas, urban blight is a consequence of the present heavy weight of the property tax on buildings, since rehabilitation creates higher assessed value and thus a higher property tax. This is especially a deterrent to rehabilitation among low-income persons. Urban sprawl is another consequence of the present property tax with its light taxation of urban land, especially vacant and derelict urban sites, since a minimal property tax on the location value is insufficient to encourage sale for productive use now as opposed to the owner holding onto the site in its unproductive state for a future higher sale price and bigger profit.
Whereas, charity alone is not enough to address poverty; and redistribution of wealth through the federal income tax is in jeopardy in light of a $5 trillion federal debt;
Therefore, be it resolved, that the Church lift its vision beyond the symptoms of poverty and look at the cause, the inequitable access to God's gift of land to all humankind; and
Be it further resolved, that information on land value taxation be published in various United Methodist periodicals (such as Christian Social Action) by experts qualified in theory and practice of land economics, and that the General Board of Church and Society consider offering land value taxation as a quadrennium workshop emphasis.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 22620-CS-NonDis-O
1996 United Methodist General Conference