Updated Property Tax Tools Enhance Accessibility of Complex US Public Finance Data

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy recently redesigned its signature Land and Fiscal Systems databases, Fiscally Standardized Cities (FiSC), Significant Features of the Property Tax, and State-by-State Property Tax at a Glance, with a new interface and enhancements to improve user experience. This update aims to make property tax and public finance data more accessible and easier to analyze for a diverse audience.

“These redesigned databases convey property tax data in an improved format to facilitate use by researchers and policymakers,” said Joan Youngman, executive director of Land and Fiscal Systems at the Lincoln Institute. “We hope the new interfaces and enhanced features will serve to generally increase public understanding of the variety and complexity of property tax institutions across the country.”  

The Fiscally Standardized Cities (FiSC) database makes it possible to compare local government finances for more than 200 of the largest US cities in more than 100 categories of revenues, expenditures, and debt. The redesigned database now allows users to identify a set of peer cities based on population and region, better facilitating comparisons of local finances in similar cities. Users can still choose from more than 100 fiscal variables, but there is a new option to choose Key Fiscal Data tables, which provide a high-level summary of finances and a good starting point for many users. In addition, expanded options for sorting data allow an improved user experience. 

The FiSC estimates are critical for making meaningful fiscal comparisons at the city level, because fiscal comparisons of central city municipal governments alone can be highly misleading due to the myriad ways in which different cities deliver and organize public services. This database accounts for these differences, making it possible to compare local government finances for the nation’s largest cities. 

Significant Features of the Property Tax is an online database that presents information on the property tax in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including data and definitions related to tax structure, rates, assessments, relief programs, and more. The redesign improves the user experience for researchers accessing property tax data from any of the 14 tables in the database, with navigation improvements that include the ability to open individual record details without leaving the results page, enhanced table display options, and more accessible summary tables on Residential Relief and Tax Limits and Truth in Taxation. 

State-by-State Property Tax at a Glance, a component of the Significant Features of the Property Tax database, features 50 state narratives and an interactive map that provide the context needed to understand each state’s property tax system, how it compares to other states’, and to see the wide variety of state policies across the nation. The upgrades included increased access to historical data, enhanced navigation with improved menus and filtering capabilities, and easier viewing experiences on a variety of screens. 

Together, Significant Features of the Property Tax and State-by-State Property Tax at a Glance provide comprehensive, reliable, and comparative property tax data. They can facilitate tax reform by making it easier for policymakers, researchers, journalists, and community members to view key property tax data in the context of each state’s unique property tax structure. They can also bring new analytic attention to land-based taxes, supporting efforts to improve tax efficiency and equity. 

Learn more about these property tax databases and other tools.

Kristina McGeehan is the director of communications at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Lead image: Aerial view of a residential neighborhood in Denver during autumn, with the Donwtown Denver skyline in the background. Credit: Dee Liu via iStock/Getty Images Plus