IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/pbudge/v43y2023i1p64-84.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Taxation and citizen choice: The effect of a county charter on property taxes

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah E. Larson
  • Bruce D. McDonald

Abstract

As saliency of the tax burden increases, the preference for a lower burden increases, but most counties are restricted by the state from adopting new taxes or changing the existing rates. Some states allow counties to adopt a charter, freeing them from state control. Using a panel of Florida counties from 1980 to 2017, we explore whether citizens act to reduce their property tax once a charter is passed. Citizens act against their preferences not by lowering burden but rather by increasing it in the case of debt service, suggesting citizens are maximizing their optimal tax burden in exchange for services.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah E. Larson & Bruce D. McDonald, 2023. "Taxation and citizen choice: The effect of a county charter on property taxes," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 64-84, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:pbudge:v:43:y:2023:i:1:p:64-84
    DOI: 10.1111/pbaf.12336
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/pbaf.12336
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/pbaf.12336?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    2. Benno Torgler, 2002. "Speaking to Theorists and Searching for Facts: Tax Morale and Tax Compliance in Experiments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 657-683, December.
    3. Tanja Hennighausen & Friedrich Heinemann, 2015. "Don't Tax Me? Determinants of Individual Attitudes Toward Progressive Taxation," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 16(3), pages 255-289, August.
    4. Man, Joyce Y. & Bell, Michael E., 1996. "The Impact of Local Sales Tax on the Value of Owner-Occupied Housing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 114-131, January.
    5. Robert J. Eger, III & Bruce D. McDonald, III & D. Ryan Miller, 2017. "Helpful local surtaxes? Florida and disadvantaged families," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 170-193, March.
    6. Raj Chetty & Adam Looney & Kory Kroft, 2009. "Salience and Taxation: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1145-1177, September.
    7. Goldin, Jacob, 2015. "Optimal tax salience," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 115-123.
    8. Yonghong Wu & Rebecca Hendrick, 2009. "Horizontal and Vertical Tax Competition in Florida Local Governments," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(3), pages 289-311, May.
    9. Raj Chetty, 2009. "The Simple Economics of Salience and Taxation," NBER Working Papers 15246, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Steven Maser, 1985. "Demographic factors affecting constitutional decisions: the case of municipal charters," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 121-162, January.
    11. Gallagher, Kelly Sims & Muehlegger, Erich, 2011. "Giving green to get green? Incentives and consumer adoption of hybrid vehicle technology," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 1-15, January.
    12. Rebecca Hendrick & Jared Crawford, 2014. "Municipal Fiscal Policy Space and Fiscal Structure: Tools for Managing Spending Volatility," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 24-50, September.
    13. Slemrod, Joel, 1990. "Optimal Taxation and Optimal Tax Systems," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 157-178, Winter.
    14. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    15. Marika Cabral & Caroline Hoxby, 2012. "The Hated Property Tax: Salience, Tax Rates, and Tax Revolts," NBER Working Papers 18514, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Kirchler, Erich, 1998. "Differential representations of taxes: Analysis of free associations and judgments of five employment groups," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 117-131.
    17. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    18. repec:bla:jecsur:v:16:y:2002:i:5:p:657-83 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Sungho Park & Craig S. Maher & Carol Ebdon, 2020. "Interlocal Collaboration and Local Fiscal Structure: Do State Incentives Matter?," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 20-43, June.
    20. Feldstein, Martin, 1976. "On the theory of tax reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1-2), pages 77-104.
    21. Diane Lim & Joel Slemrod & Eleanor Wilking, 2013. "Expert and Public Attitudes Towards Tax Policy: 2013, 1994, and 1934," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(4), pages 775-806, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raj Chetty, 2015. "Behavioral Economics and Public Policy: A Pragmatic Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 1-33, May.
    2. James Alm & Carolyn J. Bourdeaux, 2013. "Applying Behavioral Economics to the Public Sector," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 206(3), pages 91-134, September.
    3. Francis Wong, 2024. "Taxing Homeowners Who Won’t Borrow," CESifo Working Paper Series 11185, CESifo.
    4. John Yinger & Phuong Nguyen-Hoang, 2015. "The Behavioral Impacts of Poverty Tax Relief: Salience or Framing?," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 186, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    5. Johannes Becker & Jonas Fooken & Melanie Steinhoff, 2019. "Behavioral Effects of Withholding Taxes on Labor Supply," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(4), pages 1417-1440, October.
    6. Brunner, Eric J. & Hoen, Ben & Rand, Joe & Schwegman, David, 2024. "Commercial wind turbines and residential home values: New evidence from the universe of land-based wind projects in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    7. Emanuele Bracco & Marco Alberto De Benedetto & Maurizio Lisciandra, 2024. "Manipulating municipal budgets: unveiling opportunistic behavior of Italian mayors," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 198(3), pages 317-342, March.
    8. Sebastien Bradley & Naomi E. Feldman, 2020. "Hidden Baggage: Behavioral Responses to Changes in Airline Ticket Tax Disclosure," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 58-87, November.
    9. Andreas Buehn & Roberto Dell’Anno & Friedrich Schneider, 2018. "Exploring the dark side of tax policy: an analysis of the interactions between fiscal illusion and the shadow economy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1609-1630, June.
    10. Bierbrauer Felix J., 2016. "Effizienz oder Gerechtigkeit?: Ungleiche Einkommen, ungleiche Vermögen und Optimale Steuern," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 2-24, April.
    11. Joakim Weill, 2023. "Flood Risk Mapping and the Distributional Impacts of Climate Information," Working Papers 2023.10, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    12. Felix Bierbrauer, 2016. "Effizienz oder Gerechtigkeit? Ungleiche Einkommen, ungleiche Vermögen und die Theorie der optimalen Besteuerung," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2016_03, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    13. Doerrenberg, Philipp & Duncan, Denvil, 2014. "Tax Incidence in the Presence of Tax Evasion," IZA Discussion Papers 8137, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Leschnig, Lisa & Schwerdt, Guido & Zigova, Katarina, 2022. "Central exams and adult skills: Evidence from PIAAC," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Santiago Garriga & Dario Tortarolo, 2024. "Wage effects of means-tested transfers: Incidence implications of using firms as intermediaries," IFS Working Papers W24/49, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    16. Junghack Kim & Bruce D McDonald & Jongmin Shon, 2022. "Does the charter form lead to lower borrowing costs? Examining the case of California local governments," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 85-102, March.
    17. Guo, Jingyuan & Deng, Kent, 2024. "Laying off old guards to rebuild state capacity: Deng Xiaoping’s bloodless coup d’etat in post-Mao China, 1980-2000," Economic History Working Papers 126083, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    18. Rebecca L. C. Taylor, 2022. "It's in the bag? The effect of plastic carryout bag bans on where and what people purchase to eat," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(5), pages 1563-1584, October.
    19. Chen, Jidong & Shi, Xinzheng & Zhang, Ming-ang & Zhang, Sihan, 2024. "Centralization of environmental administration and air pollution: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    20. Barbara Biasi & Julien Lafortune & David Schönholzer, 2024. "What Works and for Whom? Effectiveness and Efficiency of School Capital Investments across the U.S," CESifo Working Paper Series 10884, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:pbudge:v:43:y:2023:i:1:p:64-84. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0275-1100 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.