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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH I'm not sure that Community High School District 200 would appreciate the loss of tax revenue if the property taxes on Clearing Yard were abated. There is not a whole lot of vacant land suitable for industrial development within the school district's boundaries so any offset of lost taxes by increased valuations due to industrial development would be minimal. In most urban areas, vacant land suitable for industrial development is relatively rare and much of it is being rezoned residential or commercial anyway. Shipping by truck is a viable option for many of the remaining industries, too.[/quote] You are correct, except that in today's economy industrial development in one locality tends to extend economic benefits to adjacent areas. Our great highway system has allowed people to commute farther and allowed support industries to spring up even several hundred miles away, so if County A does it's job and preserves a rail line that serves an industry that may be endangered otherwise, the benefits will also be felt in Counties B, C, D, etc do to increased retail development and population growth, and that will serve those taxing districts. If said rail line also passes through Counties B, C, and D to get to County A, even if there are no direct rail customers in B, C, and D they would still benefit by contributing to preserving that line via tax exemption in return for the greater regional dollar turnover. [quote]QUOTE: Question for FM: In your scenario for open access, the infrastructure would be owned by a separate firm, which presumably would be responsible for its maintenance and possible upgrading. Since this firm would have a monopoly on the rail infrastructure, what devices would be in place to prevent this firm from charging whatever it pleases for access to operate over its line? [/quote] It is logical that said entities should be governed as regulated utilities in the same vein as electric utilities. That was(is) part of the problem with past railroad regulation, the whole kit and kaboodle was regulated including the transporter parts. That ended up hurting the ability to adjust to market forces, and almost killed the railroad companies. Separate and regulate the infrastructure, and keep the transporter services unregulated.
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