Book | 2012
A Tale of Two Taxes: Property Tax Reform in Ontario
Richard M. Bird, Enid Slack, and Almos Tassonyi
This book examines the broad reform of the Ontario property tax in 1998. The objectives of this reform included introducing a full market value assessment, establishing a property tax system that would be widely accepted, and removing property tax reform from the provincial political agenda. Although the reform effort was lauded by experts at the time, its overall objectives were not achieved. In fact, the new assessment system may have ultimately weakened the role of the local property tax. Good property tax design needs to recognize the important differences between taxing housing and taxing business property.
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IMFG Paper | 2011
Are There Trends in Local Finance?
Richard M. Bird
There is little evidence of regional, let alone worldwide, trends in local finances. In analyzing and comparing country experiences, it is important to be clear about the different (implicit or explicit) normative models to be found in the literature and exemplified in practice in different countries.
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IMFG Paper | 2011
The Property Tax–in Theory and Practice
Enid Slack
The property tax is considered to be a good tax for local governments, yet property tax revenues rarely account for more than 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in any country. This paper explains why the property tax is under-used by highlighting some of the problems with the tax.
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IMFG Paper | 2011
Financing Large Cities and Metropolitan Areas
Enid Slack
This paper explores the financing of services and infrastructure in large cities and metropolitan areas. Do large cities spend more than smaller cities? Do larger cities have greater fiscal capacity? Are large cities treated differently from other cities? What are the appropriate revenue sources for large cities?
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IMFG Paper | 2011
Coping with Change: The Need to Restructure Urban Governance and Finance in India
M. Govinda Rao and Richard M. Bird
This paper identifies some key reforms needed to ensure more citizen participation and greater accountability in urban governance, and to augment and strengthen the capacity of Indian cities to deliver more adequate services and provide needed urban infrastructure.
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IMFG Paper | 2011
Revenue Diversification in Large U.S. Cities
Howard Chernick, Adam Langley, and Andrew Reschovsky
Using a panel of data on the financing of the United States’ largest central cities from 1997 to 2008, the empirical results of this paper provide strong support for the hypothesis that a more diversified revenue structure generates more revenues than one that relies primarily on the property tax.
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Other | 2011
Amenities for Density: Section 37 of the Planning Act
Larry Beasley
This presentation was delivered by Larry Beasley at an event co-sponsored by Ideas That Matter on December 6, 2006, with two panel presentations: Planning in Toronto: What's the Problem?, chaired by Paul Bedford, including panelists Julie Di Lorenzo, Frank Lewinberg, and Gary Wright; and Amenities for Density: Section 37 of the Planning Act, chaired by John Lorinc, with a presentation by Larry Beasley, and panelists Steve Diamond, and Ted Tyndorf.
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Other | 2011
Trends in Public Finance in Canada
Enid Slack and Harry Kitchen
The current division of spending responsibilities among the three orders of government and their ability to use own-source revenues to fund these responsibilities has led to concerns about the existence of a vertical fiscal imbalance. This paper provides an assessment of trends in the levels of expenditures and revenues by all three orders of government, trends that are important in assessing the extent to which there is a fiscal imbalance.
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Globe and Mail: Sean Grisdale on the “Squandering” of Public Land Sales
June 7, 2024
CBC Online: Almos Tassonyi on Brampton’s Strategic Reserve Fund
June 4, 2024
Municipal World: Enid Slack on Municipal Finance
March 5, 2024