A Tax By The Naive?

Lopezian and Yale-educated economist, Ed Dolan, has a new post on his economics blog about the CAOs. Many people have asked about the economic effects of the CAOs and Ed analyzes economic aspects and alternatives. Ed makes many good points, especially about the way the CAO shifts the cost burden away from the public sector to individuals. We often hear public officials saying that the County or State cannot afford to reimburse homeowners for the loss of use of their land.  Here is what Ed says about that:

Personally, I find it very hard to accept the notion that something that is “unaffordable” becomes “affordable” if you just have the temerity to take it without paying for it.

It has been said that the lottery is a tax on the naive. Given all the flaws in our CAO draft, if our County officials swallow it anyway, we could call the CAOs a tax by the naive. If you have one of these critical areas on your property (and many of us do), you've won the lottery, but the "lottery" resembles the classic short story authored by Shirley Jackson.