Land Lines January 2011
Implementing Local Property Tax Reform in Brazil
The property tax reform in Belo Horizonte was guided by the dual desire to eliminate distortions in its antiquated model and to introduce a new fiscal culture to support a permanent process of updating property valuation to reflect market variations.
Assessment Regressivity
Assessment accuracy is the key to an equitable property tax, and statistical measures of regressivity are essential tools for evaluating valuation systems. Data from two counties in the Chicago area provide quite different perspectives.
Affordable Housing in China
Recent housing reform has resulted in a vigorous urban housing market and greatly improved housing conditions for urban residents, but affordability has become a major challenge for municipal governments.
This issue explores the process of instituting property tax reform in Brazil; varied results of property tax assessment measures in two Chicago-area counties; and the fiscal challenges of maintaining affordable housing in China.