Tom Davidoff on "local democracy" resulting in housing scarcity

A panel discussion

Video of Tom Davidoff’s presentation.

Patrick Condon has been organizing a series of panel discussions at UBC Robson Square to defend “local democracy,” the shift to local concerns that took place in the 1970s (what Jake Anbinder describes as an “anti-growth machine”).

At the February 12 event, he invited Tom Davidoff to take the pro-growth side, with Cameron Murray, Mark Roseland, and Green MLA Adam Olsen also speaking. Each panelist presented for 10 minutes. (Cameron Murray made the remarkable claim that because developers limit production and sales, supply would never cause prices and rents to go down. This seems like a proof that bumblebees can’t fly, since it’s happening right now in Austin.)

Video of full event.

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Some of Tom Davidoff’s policy work:

• BC Housing Affordability Fund proposal from 2016, co-authored by Davidoff, Joshua Gottlieb, and Tsur Somerville. The proposal was to charge an annual property tax of 1.5%, for property owners who don’t pay income tax in Canada (e.g. homemakers and students). This was picked up in the “speculation and vacancy tax” that the province introduced in 2018. Economist pleased to see measures he proposed included in B.C. speculation tax, March 2018.

• Proposal to raise property taxes and lower income taxes, December 2018. “His research proposes measuring property taxes based on the potential rent for the property, instead of the property's value. Using this measure, Vancouver's property taxes should be about four times that of a typical Canadian city; currently, they are below that of a typical Canadian city.”

• The Economics of Community Amenity Contributions, May 2021, by Davidoff and Somerville. A report to the expert panel on housing supply in BC, led by Joy MacPhail.

• Owners of the priciest properties in Vancouver pay very little income tax, UBC study finds. A study published in July 2023, co-authored by Davidoff, Paul Akaabre, and Craig Jones. “In Greater Vancouver in 2018, the top five per cent of homes had a median value of $3.7 million, but the median income tax paid by owners of those homes was just $15,800 — or 0.42 per cent of their home’s value.” He suggests imposing a minimum income tax rate of 1% of the property’s value, with an exemption for seniors.