The property tax and public education: are state-initiated tax cuts sustainable?
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
ISSN: 1096-3367
Article publication date: 1 March 2003
Abstract
During the 1990s many states used budget surpluses to refinance public education and provide property tax relief. This paper uses a case study of Kansas to assess the sustainability of state-initiated property tax cuts. It finds that the cuts are not fully sustainable over time because of court and federal mandates that require additional spending on education, economic fluctuations that reduce the ability of state budgets to maintain a given share of education spending, and demands for local control to allow school districts to spend more or less than state-mandated levels. The paper also argues that the property tax is essential to economic efficiency and local control.
Citation
Snyder, N.M. (2003), "The property tax and public education: are state-initiated tax cuts sustainable?", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 593-621. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-15-04-2003-B005
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003 by PrAcademics Press