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Village of Arden, Delaware

A Single-Tax Community, Founded 1900

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Roderick MacDonald

Cathy and I moved to our leasehold on Harvey Road back in 2016 because we were interested in finding a holistic community as opposed to simply a “place to live”. We’ve since learned much about our community’s unique philosophy and look to become active participants in it. I embrace the Georgist economic principles upon which our village is based, and yet, am struck by how the assessment process seems to be an annual wrangle. If we are truly a “single-tax” community, with leaseholders paying a land rent that is based upon the land’s intrinsic value and not upon “fruits of labor” improvements, then a leasehold’s “percentage” of Arden’s total assessment ought not to change from year to year, and yet, it does. I believe that a given leasehold’s percentage of Arden’s overall assessment should be immutable. I further believe that certain so-called “privileges,” specifically as applied to ADU’s, are antithetical to the tenents under which this community was founded, and, has created an unfair distinction without a difference given NCC’s regulations regarding owner-occupied attached separate residences. The solution to this budding inequity is the assignment of a value factor to each leasehold. Once fairly assigned, the annual assessment process becomes a simple math problem and stops becoming an annual reinvention of the wheel.   10/19/20

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Office Hours

3rd Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Buzz Ware Village Center
2119 The Highway, Arden, DE 19810
Discuss village governance with officials of the Village of Arden, Delaware.
To learn how to join us by teleconference, contact the Town Assembly Chair, Jeffrey Politis, at ardenchair@arden.delaware.gov.

Recent Posts

The Next Town Assembly: January 25, 2021 • 7:30pm

AGENDA Click here Join us via ZOOM! ZOOM Town Meeting via Video Procedures for Arden: Our meetings are now via video … [Read More...] about The Next Town Assembly: January 25, 2021 • 7:30pm

Guest Speaker at January 25, 2021 Town Meeting

Andrew Hayes, Senior Engineer and Landscape Architect, from Foresite Associates will give us an update on the Master Stormwater … [Read More...] about Guest Speaker at January 25, 2021 Town Meeting

Committee & Officer List

Here is a the most recent list of who serves on which committees in the Village of Arden, Delaware, and who serves as officers. … [Read More...] about Committee & Officer List

Trash & Recycling Flier

Trash didn’t get picked up? Can you recycle pizza boxes? Get answers in the latest Trash & Recycling Flier for the Ardens. … [Read More...] about Trash & Recycling Flier

Records Management and FOIA

To learn more about best practices for records management and about handling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Village … [Read More...] about Records Management and FOIA

Next Advisory Committee Meeting

Monday, March 1, 2021, 7:30pm via video using ZOOM.us For ZOOM login info, call Danny Schweers at 302 475-0998. TENTATIVE … [Read More...] about Next Advisory Committee Meeting

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