State Limits and State Aid: An Exploratory Analysis of County Revenue Structure

Johnston, Josée; Pagano, Michael A.; Russo, Philip A.

doi:10.1177/0160323x0003200201

Cited by 25 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The citizen majority's desire to tame the government “leviathan” and return to an era of smaller government, less service provision, and lower and more equitable tax burdens are the most common explanations for the taxpayer revolt 6 . Today, the majority of municipalities and counties throughout the U.S. are fiscally constrained by statewide constitutional and/or statutory limits (Johnston, Pagano, and Russo 2000; Mullins and Wallin 2004). A property tax rate limit imposed upon specific types of local jurisdictions (i.e., municipalities, counties, and/or school districts) rather than applied to all local governments is the most prevalent type of TEL, followed by limits to the property tax levy, and full disclosure requirements (Mullins and Wallin 2004).…”

Section: Tax and Expenditure Limits (Tels)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some states, override provisions do not exist, and other means of circumvention are necessary if minority interests are to be met. Both state and local governments have effectively circumvented fiscal limitations through other revenue sources not restricted by TELs including user charges and fees (Galles and Sexton 1998; Johnston, Pagano, and Russo 2000; Thompson and Green 2004), as well as state aid and other miscellaneous revenues (Joyce and Mullins 1991; Mullins and Joyce 1996; Shadbegian 1999; Skidmore 1999). In addition, local governments have increased off‐budget spending and borrowing (Bennett and Dilorenzo 1982), and larger cities have relied more upon non‐guaranteed debt relative to general obligation debt (Sharp and Elkins 1987).…”

Section: Tax and Expenditure Limits (Tels)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Debrucing” the Link between Tax and Expenditure Limits and Special District Governments

Billings¹,

Carroll²

2012

Growth and Change

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We provide a direct test of the extent to which the stringency of a Tax and Expenditure Limit (TEL) influences the creation of special district governments by examining one of the strictest TELs in U.S. history, the Colorado Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR). Through analysis of panel data from 1993 to 2004 of general purpose and special district governments, we test the relationship between TABOR and the creation of special districts. The novelty of our research involves the use of successful and failed attempts to override TABOR to measure variation in TEL restrictiveness at the county and municipal geography. Our results indicate that counties and municipalities unable to override TABOR's restrictions and therefore bound by the TEL have no greater use of special district governments than local jurisdictions experiencing similar demand for services but not bound by TABOR. These results are robust to failed override attempts specific to tax revenue as well as debt proceeds. Furthermore, results are unaffected by the use of multiyear lagged measures of override attempts and the inclusion of county debrucing initiatives that passed or failed by a small margin—i.e., less than 60 percent of votes. Contrary to anecdotal evidence, our results find no relationship between tax and expenditure limits and the formation of special districts.

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Section: Tax and Expenditure Limits (Tels)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tax and Expenditure Limits (Tels)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Debrucing” the Link between Tax and Expenditure Limits and Special District Governments

Billings¹,

Carroll²

2012

Growth and Change

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“…While none of this scholarship purports to be a scientific test of the hypothesis, the results are suggestive. Mullins and Joyce (1996), Shadbegian (1999), Johnston et al (2000), and Kousser et al (2008) use more advanced methodologies to test the hypothesis that TELs are circumvented using charges and fees. Both Johnston et al (2000) and Mullins and Joyce (1996) use panel data for the 50 states to show significant correlations between the adoption of TELs and increased usage of charges and fees.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fee for Service: Proposition 13 and Municipal Revenue Substitution

Seljan¹,

McCubbins²

2015

CJPP

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Municipalities in California are highly reliant on charges and fees to fund government services. This paper tests whether their dependence can be causally attributed to Proposition 13. We draw our conclusions by leveraging a component of the law that causes constraint from Proposition 13 to be heterogeneous among California municipalities. Specifically, because home sales lead to property reassessments, municipalities with high homeowner stability are more constrained by Proposition 13 than those with low homeowner stability. Our analysis shows that homeowner stability is associated with greater revenue per capita and increased reliance on charges and fees following the passage of Proposition 13. We do not observe the same pattern for renter stability and conclude that Proposition 13 causes revenue substitution to charges and fees.

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“…However, as Cigler (1996) argues, increasing county revenue flexibility is vital if counties are to achieve financial independence, and the state government's role in empowering counties in this regard is crucial. On the positive side, there is evidence that state aid to counties is increasing Johnston, Pagano, and Russo 2000;Pagano and Johnston 2000), and there is a trend toward earmarking local-option sales tax revenues (Jung 2002). On the negative side, this means counties may be growing too dependent on state aid.…”

Section: Fiscal Roles and Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, state constraints on county revenue authority have been shown to affect decisions that impose financial burdens on citizens and are not necessarily mitigated by increases in state aid (Johnston, Pagano, and Russo 2000;Pagano and Johnston 2000). In fact, state restrictiveness, though it induces counties to reduce their reliance on tax revenues and related resident tax burdens, leads to greater reliance on fees to maintain budgets and higher fee burdens on residents (Johnston, Pagano, and Russo 2000).…”

Section: Fiscal Roles and Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Research on American Counties

Benton

2005

Public Administration Review

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In a 1992 issue of this journal, 12 scholars proposed an ambitious research agenda for the study of the American county. By all accounts, this agenda was both a catalyst and a guide for those interested in the nature, role, functions, operations, and practical relevance of county governments to either continue their research or to launch new studies in this underresearched area. The present article provides a detailed inventory of the research that has been conducted in the eight areas identified in the 1992 agenda. Specifically, which research questions have or have not been addressed satisfactorily? Such an exercise is a logical prerequisite for charting a path for future research on counties; it represents a synthesis of scholarly needs for theory building, hypothesis testing, and cumulative research and the dynamic and enduring knowledge-base needs of county practitioners and elected officials.

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State Limits and State Aid: An Exploratory Analysis of County Revenue Structure

Cited by 25 publications

References 13 publications

“Debrucing” the Link between Tax and Expenditure Limits and Special District Governments

“Debrucing” the Link between Tax and Expenditure Limits and Special District Governments

Fee for Service: Proposition 13 and Municipal Revenue Substitution

An Assessment of Research on American Counties

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