Paying for Growth, Prospering from Development

The report distinguishes between 'growth' (increase in size) and 'development' (increase in quality), arguing that rapid community expansion often leads to higher taxes and degraded public services. It identifies a 'growth subsidy' where existing taxpayers fund infrastructure for newcomers, creating a cycle of dependency on further expansion. The authors propose sustainable development alternatives, such as import replacement and energy efficiency, to build local wealth without increasing community size.

• The document distinguishes between growth and development, defining growth as an "increase in size" and development as an "increase in quality and diversity." While growth often requires new investments that may not increase value, sustainable development enhances existing assets and can provide jobs without the associated problems of expansion.
• Many communities are trapped in a cycle where they seek growth to solve economic problems, but the resulting expansion creates higher demands for public services—such as schools, police, and roads—that exceed the new tax revenues generated. This results in existing taxpayers unknowingly subsidizing community expansion, particularly residential subdivisions on unoccupied land.
• Local governments often create 'socialized growth' by billing new infrastructure costs on an average basis rather than an incremental one, effectively subsidizing developers. This skews the real estate market by making expansion appear cheaper than its actual long-term cost to the community.
• Fiscal instability occurs when local governments fail to budget for the replacement of capital assets, instead relying on new growth to pay for deteriorating infrastructure. This creates a dependency where governments must encourage further expansion to cover the depreciation of existing assets, leading to crises when growth slows.
• Economic development without growth is possible through 'import replacement'—producing locally what was previously bought from outside. Examples include Osage, Iowa, which saved families nearly $1,000 per year by plugging energy leaks, and a program in Eugene, Oregon, that generated $2.5 million in local contracts by linking local suppliers with buyers.
• Sustainable community development is defined by three core aspects: renewability (using resources no faster than they can be replenished), equity (fairness among generations and different people), and digestibility (a cyclical system where by-products are reused or recycled rather than dumped as waste).

APA

Kinsley, M. J., & Lovins, L. H. (n.d.). Paying for Growth, Prospering from Development. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER96-15_Paying4Growth.pdf

Chicago

Kinsley, Michael J., and L. Hunter Lovins. Paying for Growth, Prospering from Development. RMI, n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER96-15_Paying4Growth.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kinsley |first1=Michael J. |last2=Lovins |first2=L. Hunter |title=Paying for Growth, Prospering from Development |publisher=RMI |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER96-15_Paying4Growth.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kinsleyndpaying, author = {Kinsley, Michael J. and Lovins, L. Hunter}, title = {{Paying for Growth, Prospering from Development}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_ER96-15_Paying4Growth.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }