Sir, – While I would strongly support the Dublin City Council proposals for a levy on vacant sites (Home News, August 5th), there is a much better alternative: the introduction of site value tax instead of rates. This would be far more equitable for ratepayers, spreading the financial burden over all commercial users and vacant or underused sites or buildings. It would also enable the council to remove levies on new construction, which would further encourage development of unused sites.
The current proposals for deferring payments for sites brought into temporary use as parks, etc, should be kept.
Such a tax should have been introduced instead of the present property tax as it would have covered vacant sites zoned residential.
One of the reasons it was probably not introduced was the perception that it was difficult to assess land values; however, it is much easier than properly assessing buildings, particularly in cities, where whole blocks would carry the same land value. – Yours, etc,
JAMES PIKE,
Northbrook Lane,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.