TIF at a Turning Point (Working Paper)

Defining Debt Down

Author(s): Youngman, Joan
Publication Date: May 2011

16 pages; Inventory ID WP11JY2; English

FREE DOWNLOADS BELOW


TIF at a Turning Point: Defining Debt Down	PDF	249 KB

Abstract

Tax increment financing (TIF) is the most important fiscal instrument for local development initiatives in this country. However, in many cases its growth has been accompanied by “moral hazard,” or incentives for the misallocation of resources. By earmarking taxes on future increases in property values to pay for redevelopment costs, TIF can function as a type of unrecognized municipal debt, sharing the problems of accountability and repayment capacity raised by state and local debt of all kinds.