Surprise! Taxes (and Fees) are Paid by Consumers
The City Council is beginning the process of passing its version of Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIZ), Mandatory Housing Affordability. This will charge fees on every square foot of new housing in the City beginning later this year. It’s called a fee, but it really works more like a tax, taking money from the market’s production […]
A Voice in the Wilderness: Another Letter to the Mayor and Council on MHA
I thought the Seattle City Council needed at least one more record of dissent about the imposition of their Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) scheme on the whole city. I sent this letter after my editorial appeared in the Seattle Times. It is the season of Advent, an observance of waiting and reflection before Christmas that […]
More Density in Single-Family? We Tried That Once
Sometimes even I forget that I started my work on Seattle For Growth in an effort to expand supply of single-family housing. Yes, that’s right, my first assignment as it were was to support a solution to the “small-lot problem.” Back in 2012 and 2013 developers had found a way to subdivide single-family lots and build […]
