Saturday, February 18, 2012
Epic run over three volcanos
I get bored really easily and so for my long runs I'm always trying to think of new adventures to go on. Here in Portland, there are multiple extinct volcanos within the City, so I figured out a route to run up and over three of them: Rocky Butte, Mt. Tabor and Kelly Butte.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Yukon's Reservoir Levels - mid-January Update
The Yukon's Energy Battery just got bigger! - Yukon Energy mentioned that their Mayo-B and Aishihik 3 turbines are now running, so now the stored water will go further, making more energy.
As of mid-January, the energy stored in the reservoirs is about 68% full, about 4% more energy that on average for this time of year. I wonder how fast it will be used over the next two weeks as it has been so cold?
As of mid-January, the energy stored in the reservoirs is about 68% full, about 4% more energy that on average for this time of year. I wonder how fast it will be used over the next two weeks as it has been so cold?
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Idea for improving affordable housing availability
Late last year the Government of Yukon sought ideas for improving affordable housing availability. The following is my suggestion that would help deal with all the vacant and under-developed lots downtown:
My specific suggestion is to move to land value taxation from our current property improvement tax system. A solution lies in how property tax is assessed and would be revenue neutral (ie. wouldn't cost government anything). Our current tax assessment process is primarily based on the value of the improvements on the property, with less emphasis given to the land value itself. This assessment method is actually a disincentive to redevelopment and development of revenue generating buildings (e.g. rental or multi-housing). In fact, under our current property tax assessment system, holding fallow or underutilized land for speculation is encouraged. This is because if a developer wishes to develop a high quality, multi-use building, the tax on that property rises, whereas if they do nothing, or construct a low-quality development, the property tax is lower.
The alternative to property tax assessment is land-value taxation. Under this system, the tax on real estate is commensurate with the site's potential value, regardless of what buildings may occupy the site. Therefore, holding fallow or underutilized land is a cost to the developer. The developer will want to construct the highest quality (and highest income yielding) development on the property as possible, comfortable in knowing the taxation will not change significantly. Under the land-value taxation system, holding land is expensive, and high-quality re-development is actually encouraged by the taxation system. A good overview is found on wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax, or another nice summary of this system can be found at: http://www.sprawlwatch.org/taxincentives.html
Obviously the land-value taxation would be gradually moved to over a number of years so land-owners know it is coming and it doesn't cause a tax-shock for them. For example, increase the land portion of the tax assessment by 10% and decrease the improvement portion by 10% every year for 10 year. At the end, the tax would be assessed 100% on land and 0% on improvements. The specific rates would need to be looked at so that on balance the tax is revenue-neutral relative to the current tax base.
This would be an easy, revenue neutral way to get some of that fallow-land in Whitehorse into providing housing for people, and would ultimately lead to a better built environment for the community. Some have criticized the City (perhaps unjustly) for "not doing its part" by allowing all these derelict lots downtown, but instead going and developing in new areas. This could be a means to directly show that the municipality, supported by YG, is doing its part to provide sustainable housing to the community.
My specific suggestion is to move to land value taxation from our current property improvement tax system. A solution lies in how property tax is assessed and would be revenue neutral (ie. wouldn't cost government anything). Our current tax assessment process is primarily based on the value of the improvements on the property, with less emphasis given to the land value itself. This assessment method is actually a disincentive to redevelopment and development of revenue generating buildings (e.g. rental or multi-housing). In fact, under our current property tax assessment system, holding fallow or underutilized land for speculation is encouraged. This is because if a developer wishes to develop a high quality, multi-use building, the tax on that property rises, whereas if they do nothing, or construct a low-quality development, the property tax is lower.
The alternative to property tax assessment is land-value taxation. Under this system, the tax on real estate is commensurate with the site's potential value, regardless of what buildings may occupy the site. Therefore, holding fallow or underutilized land is a cost to the developer. The developer will want to construct the highest quality (and highest income yielding) development on the property as possible, comfortable in knowing the taxation will not change significantly. Under the land-value taxation system, holding land is expensive, and high-quality re-development is actually encouraged by the taxation system. A good overview is found on wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax, or another nice summary of this system can be found at: http://www.sprawlwatch.org/taxincentives.html
Obviously the land-value taxation would be gradually moved to over a number of years so land-owners know it is coming and it doesn't cause a tax-shock for them. For example, increase the land portion of the tax assessment by 10% and decrease the improvement portion by 10% every year for 10 year. At the end, the tax would be assessed 100% on land and 0% on improvements. The specific rates would need to be looked at so that on balance the tax is revenue-neutral relative to the current tax base.
This would be an easy, revenue neutral way to get some of that fallow-land in Whitehorse into providing housing for people, and would ultimately lead to a better built environment for the community. Some have criticized the City (perhaps unjustly) for "not doing its part" by allowing all these derelict lots downtown, but instead going and developing in new areas. This could be a means to directly show that the municipality, supported by YG, is doing its part to provide sustainable housing to the community.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Yukon's Reservoir Levels - mid-December Update
The water continues to be used up fast, we used 6% of the stored water in the past two weeks. That's 11% of the stored energy used up from mid-November to mid-December. And overall, we're about 2% lower than normal for this time of year.
However, Mayo-B and Aishihik-3 should be online soon, which will make our "energy battery" about 10% bigger (those two projects add about 40 GWh/yr to the system).
However, Mayo-B and Aishihik-3 should be online soon, which will make our "energy battery" about 10% bigger (those two projects add about 40 GWh/yr to the system).
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Yukon's Reservoir Levels - December 1st Update
The energy storage is dropping fast - we used 5% of our stored water in two weeks and we're now down to 85%. This is actually about average for this time of year, but I guess November was a cold month so we used a lot of energy. Aishihik is fuller than normal, but Marsh Lake is coming down fast
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