This book examines the issues and consequences of a declining property tax base with respect to local government autonomy. Some of the nation's leading scholars provide their views on how the property tax effects intergovernmental relations, local autonomy, and education finance. --from publisher description
Local Tax Policy: A Primer provides the definitive discussion of how local governments raise revenue. The fourth edition addresses the fundamental influences on local tax and revenue policy including interjurisdictional competition, the politics of anti-taxation, and the relationships with state and federal governments. The primary sources of revenue are discussed from a policy perspective noting the pros and cons of the property tax, local sales and income taxes, and nontax revenue such as intergovernmental aid and user fees.
This book is based upon a comparative public administration research project, initiated by the Hertie School of Governance (Germany) and the Bertelsmann Foundation (Germany) and supported by a network of researchers from many EU countries. It analyzes both the regimes and the practices of local fiscal regulation in 21 European countries. The book brings together key findings of this research project. The regulatory discussion is not limited to the prominent issue of fiscal rules but focuses on every component of regulation. Beyond this, the book covers affiliated topics such as the impact of regulation for local governments, evolution of regulation, administrative costs and crisis prevention. The various book chapters throughout provide a broad picture of local public finance regulation in theory and in practice, using different theoretical and national lenses for the analysis. Furthermore, the authors investigate the effects of budgetary constraints and higher-level regulatory efforts on local governments and on democracy and public services in every European country. This book fills a gap with respect to the lack of discussion on local government finance from an international, comparative perspective and, in particular, the regulation of local public finance. With its mix of authors, this book will be useful for practitioners as well as for scholars and for theory-driven research.
In A Good Tax, tax expert Joan Youngman skillfully considers how to improve the operation of the property tax and supply the information that is often missing in public debate. She analyzes the legal, administrative, and political challenges to the property tax in the United States and offers recommendations for its improvement. The book is accessibly written for policy analysts and public officials who are dealing with specific property tax issues and for those concerned with property tax issues in general.
Offers an accessible, nontechnical evaluation of the most recent economic thinking on the nexus between local land use and tax policies. In Part I, the author summarizes the literature on the subject and explores theoretical controversies surrounding issues such as land use regulation as a fiscal tool, the effect of taxes on economic activity, and the success of tax policies to promote economic development. In Parts II and III, a group of experts presents new research on areas including the impact of growth on tax burdens and the shift to land value taxation in urban areas. For students, economists, planners, and policy makers. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR