Does Fairhope really practice the single tax theory as proposed by Henry George?
Henry George wanted his land tax theories to be implemented in the country as a whole, and never intended for them to be applied in a single community. Thus the founders of Fairhope had to make some adjustments to make it work. In the early years of the Single Tax Corporation the effort was closer to the single tax theory, but the Alabama Constitution prohibits a property tax just on land and not improvements. Today people leasing land from the Single Tax Corporation, and pay rent that includes their state and local property tax on land and buildings, a demonstration fee for community improvements that is based just on the value of the land, and an administrative fee for the administrative costs.
