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Fiscal Illusion From Property Reassessment? An Empirical Test of the Residual View

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  • Ross, Justin M.
  • Yan, Wenli

Abstract

The property tax rate, according to the residual view, is simply the ratio of levies over total assessed values, so that growth in property values is irrelevant to the revenue raised. Critics of this view claim instead that fiscal illusion allows policymakers to take advantage of increased assessed values to raise additional revenue by not fully reducing the tax rate. Using 2000–2008 data from Virginia cities and counties, this paper tests the competing claims by studying a natural experiment in the timing of mass reappraisals. Our findings provide partial support for the fiscal illusion critique of the residual view.

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  • Ross, Justin M. & Yan, Wenli, 2013. "Fiscal Illusion From Property Reassessment? An Empirical Test of the Residual View," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(1), pages 7-32, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:66:y:2013:i:1:p:7-32
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2013.1.01
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    3. Ihlanfeldt, Keith R. & Willardsen, Kevin, 2014. "The millage rate offset and property tax revenue stability," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 167-176.
    4. Facchini, Francois, 2014. "The determinants of public spending: a survey in a methodological perspective," MPRA Paper 53006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    6. Alm, James & Buschman, Robert D. & Sjoquist, David L., 2014. "Foreclosures and local government revenues from the property tax: The case of Georgia school districts," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-11.
    7. Goodman, Christopher B, 2018. "House Prices & Property Tax Revenues During the Boom & Bust: Evidence from Small-Area Estimates," SocArXiv fam2d, Center for Open Science.
    8. Alex Combs & Erin Troland, 2023. "The Role of Property Assessment Oversight in School Finance Inequality," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-024, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    9. Agata Szymańska, 2021. "Determinants of General Government Social Spending: Evidence from the Eurozone," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 4, pages 508-528.
    10. Roberto Dell’Anno & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2019. "A problem with observational equivalence: Disentangling the renter illusion hypothesis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 193-209, January.

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