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Do Tax and Expenditure Limitations Affect Local Government Budgets? Evidence From Panel Data

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  • Ronald J. Shadbegian

    (University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth)

Abstract

During the 1970s and 1980s, state governments imposed many new more restrictive tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) on local governments. Many theories have been advanced to explain the new wave of TELs. The majority of these explanations suggests that voters found local government had become larger than desired, and thus the intended effect was a reduction in government size and growth. The purpose of this study is to investigate empirically whether state-imposed local TELs have been successful in reducing both the size and growth of local government, as well as decreasing local government's reliance on the property tax. Anticipating the results, the author demonstrates, using a panel data set on local government budgets (1972-1992), the following two major points: (a) TELs decrease both the level and growth of expenditures and revenues and (b) TELs decrease the level and growth of property taxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronald J. Shadbegian, 1998. "Do Tax and Expenditure Limitations Affect Local Government Budgets? Evidence From Panel Data," Public Finance Review, , vol. 26(2), pages 118-136, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:26:y:1998:i:2:p:118-136
    DOI: 10.1177/109114219802600202
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    2. Lars P. Feld & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2004. "Do Large Cabinets Favor Large Governments? Evidence from Swiss Sub-federal Jurisdictions," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200421, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    3. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2015. "Social Preference and Governance: A Case Study in India," MPRA Paper 75828, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Apr 2015.
    4. Stijn Goeminne & Carine Smolders & Elke Vandorpe, 2017. "The real impact of a one-off fiscal restriction: empirical evidence of a flypaper effect in Flemish municipalities," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 285-292, June.
    5. Gebhard Kirchgassner, 2002. "The effects of fiscal institutions on public finance: a survey of the empirical evidence," Chapters, in: Stanley L. Winer & Hirofumi Shibata (ed.), Political Economy and Public Finance, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Goodman, Christopher B & Leland, Suzanne M., 2017. "Do Cities and Counties Attempt to Circumvent Changes in their Autonomy by Creating Special Districts?," SocArXiv 3rd7v, Center for Open Science.
    7. Cheung, Ron & Cunningham, Chris, 2011. "Who supports portable assessment caps: The role of lock-in, mobility and tax share," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 173-186, May.
    8. Aaron Chalfin & Justin McCrary, 2013. "The Effect of Police on Crime: New Evidence from U.S. Cities, 1960-2010," NBER Working Papers 18815, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Michael S. Hayes, 2020. "Tax and Expenditure Limitations, Salary Reductions, and Public Employee Turnover," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 38-61, December.
    10. Ronald J. Shadbegian, 1999. "Fiscal Federalism, Collusion, and Government Size: Evidence from the States," Public Finance Review, , vol. 27(3), pages 262-281, May.
    11. Benno Torgler & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2005. "Trust and Fiscal Performance: A Panel Analysis with Swiss Data," Working Papers 2005.61, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    12. Dove, John A., 2018. "It's easier to contract than to pay: Judicial independence and US municipal default in the 19th century," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 1062-1081.
    13. Ron Cheung, 2005. "The Effect of Property Tax Limitations on Residential Private Governments," Working Papers wp2005_05_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University.
    14. Rahul Pathak, 2023. "Do Subnational Fiscal Rules Reduce Public Investment? The Case of Fiscal Responsibility Laws in India," Public Finance Review, , vol. 51(3), pages 315-338, May.
    15. Ellen Seljan, 2014. "The limits of tax and expenditure limits: TEL implementation as a principal-agent problem," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 485-501, June.
    16. Rui Sun, 2014. "Reevaluating the Effect of Tax and Expenditure Limitations," Public Finance Review, , vol. 42(1), pages 92-116, January.
    17. 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.
    18. Steven Deller & Judith I. Stallmann & Lindsay Amiel, 2012. "The Impact of State and Local Tax and Expenditure Limitations on State Economic Growth," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 56-84, March.
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    20. Ronald John Shadbegian & Attiat F. Ott, 2001. "Do Children Create an Externality in the Provision of Public Education?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 29(3), pages 233-253, May.

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