… George Will’s latest column in Newsweek should prompt more thought on the subject of eminent domain.
While focusing on one egregious case in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, Will offers the following information:
From 1998 to 2002, state and local government seized or threatened to seize more than 10,000 homes, businesses, churches and pieces of land, not for “public use” but to enrich private interests, some of whose enhanced riches can be siphoned away by taxes.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo decision raises the possibility that local governments in any state — including North Carolina — could participate in this direct assault on private property rights.
As growth in the cost of government programs drives growth in the need for money, local governments will face an increasing temptation to replace older communities with new developments that boost property values and property tax revenue.
This is more fuel for Daren Bakst’s fire.
