I was thinking it makes sense to tax land with productive assets and don't tax those without. Housing is not a productive asset so it shouldn't matter how much you fix it up. If you tax productive land there shouldn't be an incentive to not do anything as there would be nowhere to "escape" to that has a greener financial pasture. The problem I see with this route is the tax payers with productive land will start making a case for them being the only ones who should vote.