Chapter 1: Development and Displacement

The first chapter of this four-part series covers the decades leading up to the creation of the Água Espraiada Urban Operation—a large-scale infrastructure and densification project in São Paulo, Brazil. The video highlights three forces shaping the city during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s: the growth of informal “favela” communities, traffic congestion, and growing interest in the area’s real estate. When Mayor Paulo Maluf initiated a project to build a road along the Água Espraiada stream in 1991, a decade before the urban operation was established, thousands of favela residents were evicted and the city was plunged into debt. From this context, the idea for the Água Espraiada Urban Operation emerged. How might a city accomplish large-scale urban interventions without displacing residents or taking on debt?

Chapter 2: An Innovative Solution

The second chapter of the series explains what an “urban operation” is, how CePACs work, and the inspiration behind these unique tools for major urban development projects. Community activism and a receptive administration in City Hall allowed a provision for social housing and services to be included in the list of interventions. A legal tool called special zones of social interest, or ZEIS, gave favela residents the right to housing on specific pieces of land.

Chapter 3: The Fight to Stay

In the third chapter of this four-part series, residents of the Jardim Edite favela community fight for their right to stay as powerful economic forces threaten to displace them. The first auctions of CePACs are held, raising money for the famous cable-stayed Estaiada Bridge, but it’s unclear whether money will be spent on the community’s promised social housing units.

Exhibits

• List of Maps, Figures, and Tables
• Água Espraiada Urban Operation Historical Timeline
• Água Espraiada Urban Operation Virtual Tour

Access Property Tax Database

Property Tax Fundamentals

This section covers the basic property tax structure established by each state, including definitions of real property; treatment of personal property; and transfer charges imposed when properties change hands. States may also set limits on rates, on assessment increases (for example, some states freeze property value until property changes hands), on the amount the property tax levy may increase from year to year, and on the total revenues collected or expenditures made during the year. This section includes local property tax rates, as reported by the states.

• Property Tax Rates
• Tax Limits and Truth in Taxation
• Taxable Personal Property
• Real Estate Transfer Charges
• Legal Definition of Real and Personal Property
• Assessment Administration

The Property Tax Base

The property tax base starts with monetary values that are placed on taxable property by the taxing authority. All states recognize market value (also sometimes called true value, just value, or actual value) as a standard for assessment, though not all states strictly apply that standard. Many states do not allow taxation of the full value of property, but rather apply assessment ratios to reduce values before the tax rate is applied. Some states classify property by its use, with different tax rates or assessment ratios for different classes of property.

• Property Tax Classification
• Tax Base by Property Type

Property Tax Relief and Incentive Programs

All states have tax provisions to encourage particular land uses and to provide property tax relief to selected classes of owners. Property tax relief and incentive programs are grouped here according to their objectives and structure. They include tax relief to residential property owners, provisions to encourage economic development, to reduce taxes on certain types of property (e.g., agricultural or open space), and programs to encourage specific types of property improvement. They may offer relief by applying a different value standard (e.g., use value) or through exemptions, credits, or deferral of payments.

• Tax Treatment of Agricultural Property
• Incentives for Economic Development
• Incentives for Specific Property Improvements
• Preferential Property Tax Programs
• Residential Property Tax Relief Programs

State-by-State Property Tax in Detail

The state-by-state property tax in detail presents key features of the property tax system in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Most of the material in this section is also available in other tables on the site. However, there is additional information here on the number of taxing authorities in each state, assessment administration practices in each state, and on organizations or properties that are completely exempt from the property tax.

• Property Tax in Detail

Significant Features of the Property Tax®️

This online database presents data on the property tax in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Because accurate data provide the critical foundation for sound governmental decision-making, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the George Washington Institute of Public Policy joined in a partnership to provide information and support public policy concerning the property tax, probably the most controversial tax in the United States. The term “Significant Features” pays tribute to the work of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, which from 1959 to 1996 provided a wealth of research on the functioning of the federal system, particularly through its flagship publication, Significant Features of Fiscal Federalism. For more information, please access this user guide to the site.