Smart Signals: property tax reform for smart growth

Property Tax Reform for Smart Growth analyzes Minnesota's property tax system and describes an alternative approach called site value taxation. It shows how the current property tax system penalizes urban landowners for improving property, discourages redevelopment and stimulates sprawl. The incentives and effects of a site value alternative are investigated. The study examines:

Implications of the property tax for development

Fiscal distortions within the property tax

The multiplier effect: Tax code treatment of housing

Site value taxation as a sustainable development approach to property tax reform

Tax redistribution under a site value system

Implementation issues

Recommendations