Publications
Property Taxes
The property tax is a tax on the market value of privately owned property, including land, cars, business inventory, etc. Although the property tax is the principal source of revenue for localities, broad consensus has not been reached on the basic issue of whether property taxes are regressive, proportional or progressive. Property tax liability is calculated by multiplying the nominal property tax rate by the assessment ratio (the percentage of the value of the property that is taxed) by the value of the property. In 2004, state and local governments across the United States collected an estimated $318 billion in property taxes. Approximately 97 percent of this total, $308 billion, was collected by local government units including counties, cities, and school districts.
Additional questions about property taxes? Call (202) 464-6200.
Publications from The Tax Foundation
- Sound Tax Policy Coming to New York (?), by Josh Barro, June 6, 2008
- Tax Foundation Testimony Before the Ways and Means Committee of the Vermont Legislature, by William Ahern and Gerald Prante, December 11, 2007
- New Census Data Shows Where Property Taxes Hit Homeowners Hardest, by Gerald Prante, September 12, 2007
- Protecting Taxpayers From Discriminatory Taxes at the U.S. Supreme Court—CSX Transportation, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization of Georgia, by Brian E. Bailey and Chris Atkins, July 30, 2007
- Appropriation by Litigation: Estimating the Cost of Judicial Mandates for State and Local Education Spending, by Chris Atkins, July 26, 2007
- Property Tax Collections Surged with Housing Boom, by Gerald Prante, December 1, 2006
- State and Local Property Taxes, by Michael Lorelli, August 1, 2001
- State and Local Property Tax Collections, by J. Scott Moody, October 1, 1999
- Impact of Virginia's Gubernatorial Personal Property Tax Relief Plans Vary Widely by Locality, by Patrick Fleenor, October 1, 1997
- Property Taxes on the Rise Again Across Nation, by Chris R. Edwards, August 1, 1993
- Tax Review: Property Taxation: Classifying Types of Property to Differentiate Burdens, by C. Lowell Harriss, May 1, 1980
- Tax Review: Proposition 13: A Prostitution of Conservative Principles, by Donald G. Hagman, September 1, 1978
- Tax Review: Property Taxation after the California Vote, by C. Lowell Harriss, August 1, 1978
- Property Taxation in Government Finance, by C. Lowell Harriss, November 1, 1974
- Tax Review: The Property Tax Under Fire, by Kenneth Back, March 1, 1973
- Tax Review: Property Tax: Who Pays?, by C. Lowell Harriss, April 1, 1972
- Property Taxation: Economic Aspects, by C. Lowell Harriss, August 1, 1968