This is a process under which a special tax is levied on property owners deemed to have benefited from the building of infrastructure. "If we are going to make big investments in things like [Auckland's City] Rail Link, and a series of different rail links, people will benefit from that. How do we capture the value of that, and use that to fund the development?" Robertson said. In March last year, the Productivity Commission gave an example of how that might work. If the land value of a property benefiting from a new rail link increased in value from $100,000 to $250,000 over five years – a 150 per cent increase compared with a rise of 120 per cent in land values in the wider area – a tax could be levied on the $30,000 gain attributable to the infrastructure improvements. Ad Feedback The tax could be levied alongside of rates, the commission suggested. - www.stuff.co.nz