Property values

The article “Cook moves on tax break” misses the point. The article paints rehabbers as the culprits. All these people do is improve the housing stock, which increases the value of everyone’s property.

For those who have seen their tax bills increase dramatically, there are several options short of moving out of the gentrifying area (and pocketing the hefty gains on their houses). They can take out a reverse mortgage or simply refinance. Perhaps we should focus on the real culprit–an inefficient government that is collecting all of these rapidly increasing taxes.