The proposed BeltLine tax exempts owned homes & that’s unfair

This map shows the commercial properties included within the proposed Special Service District (SSD) Tax around the BeltLine.

Residential apartments are included in the tax, but owned homes are exempt. (See the second photo for a look at how this plays out on Glen Iris Drive).

The SSD is promoted as a way to complete the funding of BeltLine trails within 10 years, and is being touted as a way to help the BeltLine free up other funding sources for use as affordable-housing production.

There are benefits, no doubt. And if this tax included all homes, I'd likely be in favor of it.

But I am opposed to this proposal because it unfairly exempts owned homes. And because the City Council members who are voting on it (and the loudest voices they're listening to) are likely all homeowners and therefore biased.

The disparity I find with the BeltLine SSD is not primarily in the financial effect of the tax on renters, which may be small.

It's in the *absence* of a tax on homeowners, who are *overrepresented* in city leadership. That selective absence of the SSD tool is what causes a disparity that I find offensive, especially in a world that already privileges owners over renters in many ways.

I realize the SSD is likely to pass when Council votes on it this month. But I feel compelled to share my opinion.

Studies show that homeowners are less prone to displacement than renters and are thusly more likely to reap the long-term rewards of the BeltLine, yet they are exempt from this tax while renters more prone to displacement will have their buildings taxed. This unfairness feels very wrong to me.