Local Property Taxes
Tallying Up the Impact of Florida’s Property Tax Ballot Measure on Local Communities
• By Neva Butkus
Florida voters will soon vote on Amendment 3, which would create a pathway for non-school property tax elimination in the state. If passed, the measure would cost local governments $13.7 billion in the first two years alone.
Where America’s Biggest Cities Get Their Tax Revenue
• By ITEP Staff
Property taxes are the largest source of revenue for over half of the 50 largest cities, but to a lesser degree than for other local governments.
How the 50 Largest American Cities Raise Revenue and What That Means for Tax Equity
• By Rita Jefferson, Nick Johnson, Galen Hendricks
Large cities have the technical capacity, the economic base, and often more political might than smaller localities and governments that local officials should utilize to design fairer tax systems.
State Rundown 8/27: Tax Policy is Cool as Summer Wraps
• By ITEP Staff
With many state legislatures already adjourned, developments in tax policy have slowed.
State Rundown 8/13: Income Tax Elimination Fails in Missouri
• By ITEP Staff
In a win for Missouri workers and families, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to replace the state's income tax with increased or expanded sales taxes.
New Yorkers, Please Pay Your City Income Taxes: Why the Pied-à-Terre Tax Rollout Is Not Worth a Meltdown
• By Rita Jefferson
The news coverage of the second home tax has been disconnected from the real living conditions for the millions of New Yorkers who don’t own a second (or third, or fourth) home.
Localities Try Vacant Land Taxes, Mansion Taxes and Second Home Taxes
• By Rita Jefferson
In 2026, cities, counties, and school districts must manage tax cuts coming from federal and state governments, the end of federal pandemic aid, rising costs, and a stagnant economy. This challenging environment is forcing municipalities of all types to ask how they can best fund core priorities and invest in communities in the long term.
State Rundown 6/25: Trending This Summer? New Revenue!
• By ITEP Staff
It's the first official week of summer, and while many of us are planning vacations, state lawmakers remain busy finalizing and debating tax proposals.
State Rundown 6/4: Fiscal Flowers and Weeds Bloom in June
• By ITEP Staff
A veritable superbloom of tax and budget policies occurred over these last few weeks, including both flowers worth admiring and weeds worth fighting back.
NYC and Montana Lead the Way on Second-Home Taxes
• By Rita Jefferson
Second home taxes make a lot of sense for communities struggling with housing costs for full-time residents. They can raise real revenues too, which can be used to support further affordable housing development.
Tax the Rich, Fund Our Communities: Local Options for Progressive Revenue
• By Rita Jefferson, Nick Johnson, Angelo Pis-Dudot
The task for local elected officials in this moment is therefore clear: use available tools to make the wealthy pay their fair share to fund the essential public goods that allow our communities to live safe, healthy, and thriving lives.
The Bears Bill Is Bad by Design. Here’s How.
• By Rita Jefferson, Amanda Kass, Kristan Wong Karinen
State lawmakers are debating whether to subsidize a new Chicago Bears stadium in Arlington Heights, but this bill creates a new statewide property tax cut program for large development projects.
State Rundown 5/7: Federal Showers Make States Dour
• By ITEP Staff
The effects of last year’s federal tax and spending cuts continue to ripple through the states. With gas prices soaring due to the Iran war, some states are attempting to provide a bit of relief in the form of gas tax reductions and suspensions.
State Rundown 4/30: Aloha to Tax Cuts, Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Address Revenue Gap with High-End Tax Changes
• By ITEP Staff
This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.
Property Tax Reforms Can Bring Racial Justice
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Homes in Black neighborhoods are more likely to be over-assessed for tax purposes while being undervalued by private appraisers.
State Rundown 2/11: This Valentine’s Day, Conscious Decoupling Is Our Love Language
• By ITEP Staff
While some may be excited for a romantic Valentine’s Day this weekend, many state lawmakers are breaking up and decoupling from recent federal tax changes that are poised to leave states with revenue shortfalls – much like a bad date who forgets their wallet and asks you to pick up the tab.
State Rundown 1/22: Cautious Tone Noticeable in Most Statehouses
• By ITEP Staff
Most states are adopting a very cautious approach so far this year as legislators begin their sessions and governors make their annual addresses, thanks to ongoing economic uncertainty and federal retrenchment.
Local Governments Are Increasingly Strapped: 2026 Will Bring New Challenges and New Opportunities
• By Kamolika Das
2025 saw an intensification of state and local tax fights across the country, as well as growing experimentation with local-option taxes, levies, fees, and tourism taxes aimed at keeping budgets afloat while also navigating political constraints imposed by state legislatures.
2025: The Year in Tax Policy
• By ITEP Staff
From Congressional discussions over the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to debates on property taxes, ITEP kept busy this year analyzing tax proposals and showing Americans across the country how tax decisions affect them.
Local Vacancy Taxes: A Tool but Not a Panacea
• By Rita Jefferson
Vacancy taxes will not single-handedly solve problems in cities, but they are worth considering to address housing shortages, land use, and building thriving communities.
In 2025, Voters Said Yes to Public Resources and Community Investments
• By Rita Jefferson
Important tax measures were on the ballot this week, and the outcomes are clear: many voters support new state and local spending to support critical services in their communities.
Anti-Tax Revolts Backfire: What We’ve Learned from 50 Years of Property Tax Limits
• By Rita Jefferson
Across-the-board property tax cuts create less fair local tax systems in the long run. State legislators and local governments should prioritize the residents who can least afford their property taxes, not the residents and businesses who can.
Local Tax Trends in 2025
• By Rita Jefferson
As federal aid ends and economic uncertainty grows, local governments face tough budget choices. Now is the time for localities to protect vulnerable residents and build stronger, more equitable fiscal foundations.
Housing Affordability and Property Taxes: How to Actually Move the Needle
• By Kamolika Das, Rita Jefferson
Tax policy alone cannot solve the housing crisis but lawmakers who are focused on tax policy solutions have better options available than sweeping property tax cuts and caps: property tax circuit breakers, renter credits, vacancy taxes, land value taxes, and changes to existing property tax assessments can move the needle on the affordable housing crisis.
Learn from Prop 13 History to Avoid Repeating Past Mistakes
• By Rita Jefferson
Worries about housing costs and property tax bills are leading people to check the history books for solutions, but there’s a danger that they’ll repeat past mistakes. If anti-tax lawmakers carelessly weaken property taxes as they did in the 1970s, as they did with California’s Proposition 13, they will undercut public finances, making municipalities, school districts, and other special districts worse off.
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