Regional Tax-Base Sharing | Feb 12th at 4:14pm
One of the main points from this panel is that wealthier families move to the suburbs in order for their children to attend better schools. This creates a situation in which the tax base for inner-city schools is decreased. School performance then suffers. The New Rules Project proposes a policy solution in the form of Tax-Base Sharing.
Under tax-base sharing, all of the municipalities within a metropolitan area agree to share tax proceeds from new development. This eliminates interregional competition; facilitates other planning goals such as preserving open space or maintaining a vibrant downtown; encourages suburbs and central cities to cooperate on regional economic development goals; and leads to a more equitable distribution of tax burdens and public services.
John Petro is an urban policy analyst at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy where he heads up the Progressive Urban Model Policies (PUMP) Project. The goal of PUMP is to facilitate progressive change in cities by helping local activists, organizers, and elected officials replicate and expand model policies in a number of key issue areas in urban policy.
