Restrictive
Land Use Rules Add Billions to AZ Housing Costs
PHOENIX - Housing shortages caused by restrictive
land use laws have added tens of thousands of dollars to the cost
of homes in
Arizona, says a new report released by the Arizona Federation of
Taxpayers. The report, by policy analyst Randal O'Toole, estimates
that government planners have added $37,000 to the cost of median
homes in Tucson, $55,000 in Phoenix and $72,000 in Flagstaff. The
report notes that these estimates are conservative and the real
costs could be 25 percent more.
"O'Toole's report has revealed a gigantic hidden tax on Arizona
homebuyers," said AFT executive director Tom Jenney. "And
as
Arizona homeowners know, higher home prices mean higher assessed
values and higher property taxes."
Housing was affordable throughout Arizona in 1989, according to
the report. But growth management planning in Flagstaff started
creating a housing shortage by 1999. That shortage forced homebuyers
to pay a penalty for living in or near Flagstaff. Similar shortages
followed in Phoenix and Tucson in the early 2000s.
The penalties of government planning are far greater than the supposed
costs of sprawl, says the report. The most widely cited study of
the costs of sprawl estimates that urban service costs to low density
neighborhoods are about $11,000 more per home than urban service
costs to higher density neighborhoods.
"How smart is 'smart growth' if it makes every home in the
city cost $37,000 to $72,000 more so the city can save $11,000 on
a few new homes?" asks O'Toole. He recommends that cities set
user fees and taxes to make sure new development covers its costs
and let people make their own choices about where they want to live.
High housing costs can hurt local economies by causing employers
to locate elsewhere and forcing workers to make long commutes
to other areas with more affordable housing. Land use restrictions
are also regressive, because they impose especially large burdens
on low income families while providing windfall profits for wealthy
homeowners.
"It is sadly ironic that communities that consider themselves
progressive, such as Flagstaff, have very regressive land use rules,"
says O'Toole. The 2000 census found that 63 percent of white families
in Flagstaff own their own homes, while only 53 percent of Hispanic
and 38 percent of black families do. Racial disparities are even
greater in Phoenix and Tucson.
O'Toole argues that restrictive land use planning is not needed
to protect farms and open space. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
says that just 1.5 percent of Arizona has been urbanized, adding
that urbanization is "not considered a threat to the nation's
food production." When housing is scarce and open space is
abundant, O'Toole argues, government efforts to preserve the latter
at the expense of the former are a tragic misplacement of priorities.
The report recommends that cities and counties leave open space
protection to private conservation organizations and repeal smart
growth plans so that homebuilders can meet the demand for new housing.
The 48 page report can be downloaded from the Arizona Federation
of Taxpayers website, www.aztaxpayers.org. For more information
about the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers, contact: Tom Jenney,
vice chairman and executive director, vc@aztaxpayers.org,
(602) 478 0146. |
