116 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



(4) Too costly system of developing land, due to want of plan- 

 ning and excessive widths and lengths of road. 



If, under proper development schemes, these matters were regu- 

 lated in the interests of the community, it would go far toward solv- 

 ing the problem of taxation of land. 



Taxation of Agricultural Land in Urban Areas 



At present, the farmer who owns land within the boundaries of 

 a city, has to pay taxes on its building value, which makes it impossible 

 for him to farm at a profit. This land, when of good quality, is 

 best suited for intensive culture. Much good land near to the 

 markets is sold for building lots many years before it is wanted, 

 because it does not pay to farm it. Any change in the incidence of 

 taxation should be designed to relieve the bona fide user of the land 

 of that burden and not to increase it, unless the object is to stultify 

 agriculture in the districts where it can be made most successful. 



Ample safeguards against the user making excessive profits out 

 of converting his farm or garden land into building sub-divisions can 

 be provided by an increment tax, to be collected when the conver- 

 sion is made. 



There are large areas of highly cultivated farm and garden lands 

 within the boundaries of the British cities, where the system of 

 taxation is designed to encourage the best and most appropriate 

 agricultural use of the land as well as to secure a fair proportion of 

 the "unearned increment" when such land is utilized for building 

 purposes. The rents paid for such farms are much higher than those 

 in the districts more remote from the market. There are compara- 

 tively few cases in which farms are sub-divided before the land is 

 actually required for building, and, even then, only small parts of the 

 farms are appropriated for building purposes, as and when they 

 become quite ripe for development. 



As already stated, there are large areas of agricultural land within 

 the boundaries of western cities. When these areas are sub-divided they 

 become liable to be taxed on their presumed value for building pur- 

 poses; but a great many of them never had, and do not now have, any 

 real building value. At the close of periods of excessive speculation, 

 in such cases, taxes become an unreasonable burden to the owners. 

 As showing the need for tax classification, according to use, some cities 

 have obtained power to grant temporary relief of taxation in respect 

 of some parts of their areas where, in the judgment of the city assessor, 

 they are suitable only for agricultural purposes. Such relief, amount- 



