Linking Property Tax Revenue and Public Services

Abstract

In practical terms most property tax reforms are, first and foremost, efforts to increase tax revenue. But the ultimate goal of tax reform is, of course, broader: expanding tax revenue in order to finance the provision of valuable publicly-provided goods and services. Tax reform is only socially desirable if tax revenue is, in fact, translated into improved public outcomes. Otherwise taxation amounts to little more than the extraction of revenue from taxpayers. Tax reformers are correspondingly faced with a simple question: is the revenue from tax reform actually likely to be translated into publicly-provided goods and services? Perhaps more importantly, could property tax reform programmes be designed explicitly to increase the likelihood that revenue will be translated into valued publicly-provided goods and services? Rather than only raising more revenue, tax reformers may have the power to proactively shape the quality of public spending.

En pratique, la plupart des réformes sur la taxe foncière ont pour but premier l’augmentation des recettes fiscales. Mais l’objectif final de la réforme fiscale est bien évidemment plus vaste : il s’agit d’améliorer les recettes fiscales afin de financer des biens et services publics fondamentaux. Une réforme fiscale n’est socialement attractive que si les recettes fiscales permettent des améliorations concrètes pour la société. Sinon la fiscalité n’est rien que le prélèvement des revenus des contribuables.