Visiting fellows Richard Dye and Andrew Reschovsky assess how local governments reacted to widespread cuts in state aid that occurred in response to state government fiscal crisis at the beginning of this decade. In Property Tax Responses to State Aid Cuts in the Recent Fiscal Crisis they investigate whether local governments responded to these aid cuts by raising property taxes. The authors found that on average school districts increased property taxes by 23 cents for each dollar cut in state aid. Reschovsky will discuss the findings and issues related to the role of the property tax in local government finance at a Lincoln Lecture at Lincoln House Feb. 6.
Other recently posted working papers include:
Local Officials as Land Developers. Urban land expansion in China; authors Erik Lichtenberg and Chengri Ding
The Impact of Nonprofit, Large Landowners on Public Finance in a Fiscally Distressed Municipality. A case study of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; authors Sabina Deitrick and Christopher Briem
The Effectiveness of Community Land Trusts. An affordable homeownership comparison; authors Mickey Lauria and Erin Comstock
Preserving Whose Neighborhood? The Effects of Adaptive Reuse by the Savannah College of Art & Design on Property Value and Community Change in Savannah, Georgia; authors Kimberly Winson-Geidema with Dawn Jourdan and Shan Gao
Do Wisconsin Tax Increment Finance Districts Stimulate Growth in Real Estate Values? Authors Russel Kashian with Mark Skidmore and David Merriman