Property taxes are regarded by economists as good taxes for local governments. Yet property tax revenues rarely exceed 3 percent of gross domestic product in any country and usually amount to much less than that. Moreover, jurisdictions that levy property taxes rarely do so in a way that adheres...

Property taxes are generally considered by economists to be good taxes, and many countries are being advised to increase and improve their property taxes. In practice, however, property tax reforms have often proved to be difficult to carry out successfully. This paper discusses why property...

This book examines the Canadian province of Ontario's 1998 attempt to reform itsproperty tax laws and provides strategies--such as restructuring education finance andintroducing a new form of business taxation, at both the provincial and local levels--tohelp policy makers design a better future.

Countries around the world are decentralizing in various ways. Many studies have evaluated such reforms and their effects on corruption, stability and growth as well as on the provision of such services as health and education. Decentralization is often intended in part to make government...

We argue in this paper that better rural local governments are needed to improve the lives of billions and that a good property tax is the key to improving rural local governments. Moreover, we suggest that only by giving local governments both the incentive and the ability to levy a property...