…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
At the risk of becoming an anorak, I though I would share some correspondence I have been having with the British Property Federation via Twitter on the topic of Tax Increment Financing (see previous posts today). This correspondence has taken
Continue readingInteresting interview on Newsnight Scotland tonight with CEO of Scottish Futures Trust on tax increment financing. This is a funding mechanism for infrastructure projects whereby a public authority borrows money to pay for infrastructure (bridges, roads etc.) in anticipation of
Continue readingIn 2002 I launched a site called whoownsscotland which was designed to document the ownership of land in Scotland. Progress has been slow because it is substantially a voluntary effort though I have had great support form folk in meeting
Continue readingA Land Value Tax for Northern Ireland by Ronan Lyons & Andy Wightman. Download (10.3Mb pdf) A report commissioned by the Northern ireland Council for Voluntary Action’s Centre for Economic Empowerment June 2014 Renewing Local Democracy
Continue readingUPDATE 9 April 2011 Actually, the error I identify below (over-estimate of LVT revenue by £123 million) doesn’t look like an error on further examination. The land values in my original report were from January 2009 (the Valuation Office) and
Continue readingWhen John Swinney approved the tax increment finance scheme for Leith docks last week (see previous post), I wonder if he was aware that among the business rate payers who would be picking up the tab for paying back the
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Thirty years ago, from 3-14 June 1992, countries met in Rio de Janeiro at the ground-breaking Earth Summit. The conference agreed the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles. The conference also agreed two legally
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Text of a 15 minute speech Good afternoon friends. I am delighted to be with you this morning at our autumn conference. As we prepare for a Scottish election next year and local elections the year after, green politics has
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It is an odd state of affairs that it is easier to find out the ownership of land in 1915 than it is in 2018. The Finance Act of 1910 (Lloyd George’s famous People’s Budget”) proposed an increment levy on
Continue readingby Andy Wightman and Carole Ross Buccleuch Estates Ltd. Mr Richard Scott (sometimes referred to as the Duke of Buccleuch) is frequently cited as the owner of the largest extent of private land in the United Kingdom. Yet, this has
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