The Assessment Gap: Racial Inequalities in Property Taxation*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Avenancio-Leon, Carlos F.; Howard, Troup
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California San Diego; Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjac009
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 1383-1434
• 关键词: segregation; DISCRIMINATION

摘要

We document a nationwide assessment gap that leads local governments to place a disproportionate fiscal burden on racial and ethnic minorities. We show that holding taxing jurisdictions and property tax rates fixed, Black and Hispanic residents face a 10%-13% higher tax burden for the same bundle of public services. We decompose this disparity into between- and within-neighborhood components and find that just over half of it arises between neighborhoods. We then present evidence on mechanisms. Property assessments are less sensitive to neighborhood attributes than market prices are. This generates spatial variation in tax burden within jurisdiction and leads to overtaxation of communities with a high share of minority residents. We also find appeals behavior and appeals outcomes differ by race within neighborhood. Inequality does not arise from (i) racial differences in transaction prices or (ii) differences in features of the housing stock.