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School Finance Litigation, Tax and Expenditure Limitations, and Education Spending

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  • William F. Blankenau
  • Mark L. Skidmore

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, litigation in many U.S. states has led to education finance reform. Over the same period, many states have imposed new tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) on local governments. The imposition of a TEL may alter how local and state education expenditures change subsequent to court‐mandated decreases in spending inequality. Similarly, the effectiveness of TELs in limiting local education expenditures may be influenced by reform. To better evaluate the effects of reform and TELs on education spending, this article considers them jointly and finds that reform has a negative effect on local own‐source education expenditures only in the presence of TELs. In the absence of court‐ordered reform, TELs decrease own‐source expenditure, but the effect is less pronounced than when TELs are present with reform. When both are present, state government spending on education is higher. Also TELs and court‐ordered reform independently increase state government spending on education. (JEL H72, I22)

Suggested Citation

  • William F. Blankenau & Mark L. Skidmore, 2004. "School Finance Litigation, Tax and Expenditure Limitations, and Education Spending," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(1), pages 127-143, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:22:y:2004:i:1:p:127-143
    DOI: 10.1093/cep/byh010
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    Cited by:

    1. Das, Biswa & Skidmore, Mark, 2018. "Asymmetry in Muncipal Government Responses in Growing versus Shrinking Counties with Focus on Capital Spending," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 48(4), October.
    2. Sonali Ballal & Ross Rubenstein, 2009. "The Effect of Tax and Expenditure Limitations on Public Education Resources: A Meta-Regression Analysis," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(6), pages 665-685, November.
    3. Mark Skidmore & William Dyar, 2015. "Diminishing Health, Rising Health Care Costs and Long-run Growth in Local Government Spending," CESifo Working Paper Series 5646, CESifo.
    4. Michael S. Hayes, 2015. "The Differential Effect of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) on States’ Contributions to Education Funding in States with Binding School District Tax and Expenditure Limitations," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 49-72, March.
    5. Springer, Job D. & Lusby, Aaron K. & Leatherman, John C. & Featherstone, Allen M., 2007. "Property Tax Lids and the Effect on Kansas," 2007 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2007, Mobile, Alabama 34887, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    6. Blankenau, William & Skidmore, Mark, 2002. "The Relationship Between Education Finance Reform and Tax and Expenditure Limitations," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 32(1), pages 1-18.
    7. Jeffrey Cohen, 2006. "The impacts of education spending and finance reform on manufacturing property shadow values: a cost function approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 181-190, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

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