The Scenery Tax

Remember the “scenery tax”? We used to joke that it was the tax we paid in the form of low incomes for living in a place as remote and beautiful as Montana. Well, now we are paying higher property tax because our scenery has become a marketable commodity for the people who have been buying up our state. Scenery is a real factor in the increase in home values and property taxes. But how do you value something like location? The market is a pretty good way to do that. Buyers value scenery and are willing to bid up the price of a parcel of land to get some of it.

Scenery is an intangible concept...