Laws need cost-benefit analysis
Before local officials pass any more laws like the one in Greene County’s Cumberland Township requiring property owners to register rental properties, studies should be conducted to understand the costs and benefits.
The same also goes for the collection of landlord/tenant histories and camera-based traffic enforcement.
At least one study suggests local government can cause negative revenue growth over time. The study showed, for example, that traffic tickets were used during economic downturns as a way to generate revenue rather than a means to increase public safety. Similarly, rental property registration fees and the collection of landlord/tenant histories could have a negative impact on affordable housing and the public’s expectation of privacy, not to mention the disparate impact such fines and fees have on poor people and minorities.
North Carolina recently overturned a rental registry in Charlotte. It is interesting that many of the communities suffering from strained relations between residents and the police also have camera-based traffic enforcement and rental registry laws.
Michael Bigley
Jefferson Township