Products

In A Good Tax, tax expert Joan Youngman skillfully considers how to improve the operation of the property tax and supply the information that is often missing in public debate. She analyzes the legal, administrative, and political challenges to the property tax in the United States and offers recommendations for its improvement. The book is accessibly written for policy analysts and public officials who are dealing with specific property tax issues and for those concerned with property tax issues in general. 

This book examines the Canadian province of Ontario's 1998 attempt to reform its property tax laws and provides strategies—such as restructuring education finance and introducing a new form of business taxation, at both the provincial and local levels—to help policy makers design a better future.

This report presents two case studies and a handbook on the process of overcoming political obstacles to build a consensus for affordable housing. In spite of greater public awareness about the need for affordable housing, local officials, citizens, and developers can learn about the difficulties of implementing new housing in their communities and the benefits of various mediation techniques to meet those challenges.

Great natural disasters are rare, but their aftermath can change the fortunes of a city or region forever. This Policy Focus Report and its companion book identify lessons from different parts of the world to help communities and government leaders better organize for recovery after future disasters. The authors consider the processes and outcomes of community recovery and reconstruction following major disasters in six countries: China, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States. If done well, reconstruction can help break the cycle of disaster-related impacts and losses, and improve the resilience of a city or region. 

Great natural disasters are rare, but their aftermath can change the fortunes of a city or region forever. This book and its companion Policy Focus Report identify lessons from different parts of the world to help communities and government leaders better organize for recovery after future disasters. The authors consider the processes and outcomes of community recovery and reconstruction following major disasters in six countries: China, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States. If done well, reconstruction can help break the cycle of disaster-related impacts and losses, and improve the resilience of a city or region. 

Great effort has been devoted to the precise delineation and assignment of the legal and physical boundaries of private property. Yet, issues of unifying or assembling private property rights for urban redevelopment remain understudied. The contributors to this book search for viable alternatives to voluntary exchange or public intervention in the form of expropriation, and propose one possibility: land readjustment. The authors explore the international possibilities for facilitating cooperative land readjustment and the circumstances under which this should be possible. The book is divided into sections that focus on international legal issues, social and cultural issues, and new experiments with urban renewal and redevelopment.

Through an examination of more than 30 countries and several U.S. municipalities that have implemented a land value tax as an alternative to the traditional property tax, this reports helps officials create better tax reform packages for their jurisdictions. The report's recommendations include using best assessing practices, adding a tax credit feature in communities where land-rich but income-poor citizens might suffer from land value taxation, and phasing in dual tax rates over several years.

This report offers policy recommendations to increase participation in buyout programs and to make them more effective tools for building resilience in coastal communities. Based on a study of managed retreat following Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, the report provides an overview of flooding risk, a detailed summation of existing buyout programs, case studies, and interviews. 

This book reviews the role of the property tax, addresses the reasons behind its poor performance in practice, and critiques the conventional wisdom in academic literature on the subject. It also suggests ways for government officials to achieve greater voter confidence and more robust property tax systems through key policy and administrative reforms.

This volume tackles a range of ecological issues caused by rapid urban growth in China and examines the policies meant to protect the environment. It features discussions from leading scholars on current regulations, government decentralization and environmental protection, urban development, industrial air pollution, household greenhouse gas emissions, and transportation systems.

China's economy has developed rapidly since the economic reforms in 1978, but public finance reforms have proceeded more slowly. This book looks at three major policy options addressing the underlying imbalance between revenues and expenditures at the local level in China. This is a valuable resource for anyone interested in local fiscal issues in China.

Developing policies that will keep climate change in check has become a global priority, as increasing greenhouse gas emissions contribute to extreme weather patterns. If these emissions remain unabated, changes in global temperatures and the subsequent relocation of human settlements and economic activities will have huge economic and social impacts on the world’s population. The 2010 annual Land Policy Conference provided a forum for international scholars and policy makers to discuss topics including the impacts of climate change on land use; how energy and climate change policies affect land resource allocation and land use planning; relationships among urban form, transportation, and CO2 emissions; market-based approaches to environmental conservation; and global ability to deal with climate change and land management. 

This report outlines the problems underlying the erosion of Detroit's property tax base—a factor that contributed to the city's bankruptcy in 2013. It offers recommendations for reform at the local and state level, as well as insight and analysis to help policy makers across the country protect their communities from economic decline.

Because most children throughout the world attend elementary and secondary schools near their homes, where they live usually determines where they go to school. In the United States, the relationship between residential location and education has been especially strong given the dominance of local funding and local control of K–12 education. School quality varies markedly among the more than 14,000 school districts across the United States and within many of the country’s large urban districts. Housing prices reflect school quality; houses in better school districts or more advantaged neighborhoods of large districts sell at a premium. In other words, school quality is capitalized into the price of land.

The chapters in this volume explore the links between education, location, and land based on the proceedings of the 8th Annual Land Policy Conference of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Three policy outcomes are the focus: academic achievement of schoolchildren; racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic segregation; and equality of opportunity, all of which have broad relevance to U.S. public policy. 

The topics include the expansion of school choice, especially through charter schools and home schooling; the importance of cognitive skills for economic growth; the role of the property tax in school finance and alternative revenue sources; the structure of school districts; transportation to school; effects of school location; and housing policies that can unlink education and location.

This volume features the papers presented at the Lincoln Institute's 8th annual Land Policy Conference in June 2013.

This book reviews the history of China’s land market reforms, evaluates the current situation and presents outlooks for the future in a way that is accessible to a wide audience of decision makers, nongovernmental organizations, and academics. It is one of the few records of this kind available in English. Most of the chapters are based on the proceedings of sessions sponsored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy at the World Planning Congress held in Shanghai, China in July 2001.

This heavily illustrated best seller provides students and experienced planners with tools and examples to help communities prepare for uncertain futures. It explains how to utilize forecasts, scenarios, plans, and projects to represent, manipulate, and assess ideas to make more informed decisions and create a better future. 

The European Spatial Development Perspective was adopted in 1999 after more than 10 years of transnational networking across linguistic and cultural divides. However, Europe’s engagement in spatial planning has escaped the attention of many North American and even European planners. Based on a 2001 Lincoln Institute conference, this book provides lessons for those interested in spatial planning, theory, and practice.
Includes a full-color insert of 21 maps.

This third volume in a series of investigations of spatial planning, research, and policy in Europe taps into the treasure trove of research that is ESPON, the European Spatial Planning Observation Network, which has yielded a plethora of studies on the real and anticipated outcomes of European territorial policy. The chapters provide a comprehensive view of how the search for evidence to support the agenda of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP)—now the Territorial Agenda—has proceeded, what the evidence and implications have been, and what other conclusions could have been drawn. The authors demonstrate that a learning exercise like ESPON can contribute to shaping a political agenda, which could serve as a source of inspiration for fellow planners across the Atlantic. Includes more than 20 color maps and other figures

This policy focus report complements a larger volume that compares four states with smart growth programs (Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and Oregon) and four other states without such programs (Colorado, Indiana, Texas, and Virginia). The analysis reveals that programs vary greatly across the four smart growth states, producing a range of outcomes that overlap with some of those in the other states.

This work uses case studies of urban financing mechanisms in China, India, and Brazil to help decision makers in developing countries address the challenges of rapid metropolitan growth. The report includes policy recommendations and explores the effective use of metropolitan revenue instruments, intergovernmental transfers, public-private partnerships, and more.

This book is also the basis for a Policy Focus Report, Governing and Financing Cities in the Developing World, by Bahl and Linn, published in May 2014.

From assessments to zoning, state and local leaders can create meaningful change for and with their communities through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. Designed for policymakers, planners and practitioners, community leaders, and others, this guidebook offers an array of practical and proven land policy strategies and solutions. Tap into the Lincoln Institute’s more than 75 years of research, richly detailed data resources, and innovative work on the ground to discover how strategic land policy decisions can improve educational outcomes, provide public health benefits, increase municipal revenue, and help build more equitable and sustainable places for all. This compendium includes case studies of communities in the US and around the world that have successfully used the land policy tools in its pages; policy recommendations grounded in research; and actionable advice.
 
About the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
A nonprofit private operating foundation whose origins date to 1946, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy researches and recommends creative approaches to land as a solution to economic, social, and environmental challenges. Through education, training, publications, and events, we integrate theory and practice to inform public policy decisions worldwide.

The study of fiscal decentralization has important policy implications for urban growth management, environmental conservation, and property taxation. Fiscal decentralization gives local governments powers to set local taxes and make local expenditures. In many countries local governments also have powers to regulate land uses within the general guidelines set by higher authorities. An understanding of the degree to which local and provincial governments can exercise these powers, make decisions about their revenues and expenditures, and are held accountable for outcomes is crucial for land policy research and education. Three key themes emerged from a Lincoln Institute conference in June 2007: the extent and effectiveness of local service provision under decentralization; the connections between decentralization and local policies; and the effects of intergovernmental transfers on local fiscal behavior.

“Alan Mallach examines the crucial relationships between states and their constituent cities, illustrates how states have hindered equitable revitalization, and offers principles to guide state policy reform with an intentional focus on racial equity—namely, how urban revitalization can benefit low-income residents and communities of color, not just elites and commuters. . . . Mallach lays out successful strategies for public lead­ers to become true partners in bringing about inclusive, equitable revitalization through state policy.”

—Akilah Watkins, President and CEO, Center for Community Progress

Note: This publication is now available for preorder and will be published February 2022.
As communities worldwide make protecting the climate a priority, land trusts and conservancies of all sizes and capac­ities are seeking greater clarity in how to address climate change through land conservation and stewardship. Policy makers and decision makers are considering how to address climate-related impacts in communities, states, and regions. Funders and donors are seeking to invest in projects and initiatives which offer durable, lasting solutions for reducing carbon emissions and improving climate resilience.
This report—written by James Levitt, a global expert and educator in land conservation, and Chandni Navalkha, an international leader in sustainable management of land and water resources—offers numerous case examples of successful initiatives along with the following guidance for stakeholders in the private and public sectors looking to boost the potential of civic organizations to implement natural climate solutions:
Empower civic-sector initiatives that are creative and ambitious in scope and scale.Invest in initiatives with clear strategies and measurable impact.Aim for broad collaborations.Share advanced science, technologies, and financial engineering techniques.Support initiatives that are built to last, able to adapt, and ready to replicate.

The economic activity that drives growth in developing countries is heavily concentrated in urban areas. Big cities generate the most dynamic economic development, the strongest links to the global economy, and the resources to help poorer countries become more competitive and prosperous. However, the same advantages that drive investment and growth in these areas also draw migrants who need jobs and housing, lead to demands for better infrastructure and social services, and result in increased congestion, environmental damage, and social problems.

Governments in developing countries face two key challenges: how to capture a share of the economic growth to finance the needed expenditures, and how to manage cities so that the urban economy functions efficiently, services are delivered cost-effectively to all, and citizens have a voice in governing the city.

This report identifies the critical issues and describes current practice, the gap between practice and theory, and potential reform paths. Two core issues are explored: how to manage complex vertical and horizontal urban governance structures, and how to raise the finances to promote efficient, equitable, and sustainable metropolitan growth. The report explores local revenue instruments, with a focus on property-based local taxes and user charges, as well as external revenue sources such as intergovernmental transfers, borrowing, public-private partnerships, and international assistance.

In the 50-plus metropolitan cities considered here, practice often deviates widely from theory and varies greatly across cities. Therefore, it is impossible to make sweeping recommendations for all countries and cities.

The timing of this volume could not be more opportune. Based on the work of Karl “Chip” Case, who is renowned for his scientific contributions to the economics of housing and public policy, chapters analyze risk in the housing market, the regulation of housing markets by government, and other issues in U.S. housing policy. The book investigates derivative markets; the role that home equity insurance can play in reducing risk; the role that the regulation of government-sponsored enterprises has played in extending credit to home purchasers in low-income  neighborhoods; and the growth in the market for subprime mortgages. The impact of local zoning regulations on housing prices and new construction is also considered. This is a must read during a time of restructuring our nation’s system of housing finance.

Deregulation signaled a new environment for the taxation of public utility property in the U.S. This book of formal papers and commentaries from a 1999 Lincoln Institute seminar brings together varying perspectives on the taxation of deregulated electric utility facilities and considers the impacts of deregulation on these properties.

En América Latina, las políticas fiscales e instrumentos convencionales ignoran, en gran medida, cómo las inversiones públicas en infraestructura y servicios urbanos benefician a los propietarios privados, resultando en valores de suelo que se distribuyen de manera desigual entre propietarios y otros interesados. El objetivo de la recuperación de plusvalías es transformar estas plusvalías en ingresos públicos. El presente informe incluye una breve reseña de los antecedentes de la recuperación de plusvalías en América Latina e ilustra su presencia de larga duración en la agenda del urbanismo. El autor examina una variedad de instrumentos en municipios de la región bajo tres categorías: tributación inmobiliaria y contribución de mejoras; cargas y cobros del derecho de construir o transferencia de derechos de desarrollo; y enfoques a gran escala, tales como el desarrollo de suelo público a través de la privatización o adquisición, reajuste de suelo, y subastas públicas de bonos para comprar derechos de edificar.

This report summarizes what was learned from a workshop held in a tribal area of Limpopo Province, which sought to assist local residents in identifying land attributes that affect the relative desirability of different plots, and to apply those criteria to selected plots as a step toward developing taxable values that are reasonable proxies for market value. Although the focus here is on South Africa, the approach and lessons learned have broader applications in other developing and transitional countries where a modern, mature property tax based on market values is not feasible.

This report illustrates how local governments can realize the full benefits of inclusionary housing policies, which require developers of new market-rate real estate to provide some affordable units for lower-income residents. Policy makers, practitioners, and local leaders will learn how to build public support, use data to inform program design, establish reasonable expectations for developers, and ensure long-term program quality.

More than 50 percent of the global population resides in urban areas where land policy and infrastructure interactions facilitate economic opportunities, affect the quality of life, and influence patterns of urban development. While infrastructure is as old as cities, technological changes and public policies on taxation and regulation produce new issues worthy of analysis, ranging from megaprojects and greenhouse gas emissions to involuntary resettlement. This volume, based on the 2012 seventh annual Land Policy Conference at the Lincoln Institute, brings together economists, social scientists, urban planners, and engineers to discuss how infrastructure issues impact low-, middle-, and high-income countries.

Infrastructure drives economic and social activities. For urban areas, the challenges of balancing economic growth with infrastructure development and maintenance are reflected in debates about finance, regulation, and location and about the sustainable levels of infrastructure services. Relevant sectors include energy (electricity and natural gas); telecommunications (phone lines, mobile phone service, and Internet); transportation (airports, railways, roads, waterways, and seaports); and water supply and sanitation (piped water, irrigation, and sewage collection and treatment).

Recent research shows that inadequate infrastructure is associated with income inequality. This is likely linked to the delivery of infrastructure services to households, such as direct health benefits, improved access to education, and enhanced economic opportunities. Because so much infrastructure is energy intensive, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other negative impacts must address services such as electric power and transport. Bringing the management of infrastructure up to levels of good practice has a large economic payoff, and performance levels vary dramatically between and within countries. A crucial unmet challenge is to convince policy makers and voters that large economic returns can result from improving infrastructure performance and maintenance. 

Sustainably built and funded infrastructure is indispensable to resilient, equitable, and livable communities and regions worldwide. In this rare comparison of infrastructure across countries and sectors, leading international academics and practitioners consider the latest approaches to infrastructure policy, implementation, and finance. Chapters cover land value capture and other funding mechanisms; the role of infrastructure in urban form, economic performance, and quality of life, especially for disinvested communities; and other essential concepts, economic theories, and policy considerations.

The book presents evidence-based solutions and policy considerations for officials in government agencies and private companies that oversee infrastructure services; essential concepts and economic theories for students of infrastructure, planning, and public policy; and a current overview for policy-oriented lay readers.

“Currently no other published document outlines so clearly how land use planners and water managers can come together in practicum to better coordinate.”

— Danielle Gallet, Founding Principal + Water Strategist, Waterwell, LLC

Land without water cannot support urban form of any scale, yet many land use decisions are made without regard to water, and vice versa. This report introduces readers to best management practices that enable local governments and water providers to integrate the two systems. Supported by case studies from several U.S. communities, the report demonstrates that planning is a crucial step for land and water integration.

“Integrating Land Use and Water Management is relevant, informative, and necessary at this moment in time. In the age of specialization, we have created many silos. As problems with the urban water cycle become more complex and multidimensional, collaboration with other disciplinary experts is needed. This report provides a practical bridge to facilitate collaboration between land use planners and water management.” 

— Chi Ho Sham, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Scientist of Eastern Research Group, Inc.; President-elect of the American Water Works Association (2020–2021)

Published in collaboration with the Consensus Building Institute, this book calls for a mutual gains approach to land disputes. The authors detail techniques that allow stakeholders with conflicting interests to collaborate, voice concerns constructively, and reach successful agreements that benefit all parties involved in zoning, planning, and development. 

In June 2006 the Lincoln Institute held the first in a series of land policy conferences to address international trends and issues. The goals of this conference were to raise awareness of the importance of land policy in shaping international urban development and to explore research topics in urban economics and planning that might have significant policy implications. The chapters are based on the conference proceedings, papers, and commentaries of scholars and practitioners, and are divided into five themes: public actions and property prices; the importance of land value in today’s economy; land and property taxation; urban development and revitalization; and new developments in land and housing markets.

Whatever the political potential of land value taxation as an important revenue source may be, economists continue to be intrigued by the theoretical case for a land tax. This collection of eight scholarly papers and ten commentaries is derived from a 1998 Lincoln Institute conference that explored land value taxation in contemporary societies.

Attempts at introducing land value taxation in the United Kingdom demonstrate a long and varied history. This book considers this history and how the tax is particularly relevant today. It explores past debates over different forms of the tax, its role in generating government revenue, its practical operation, and its future prospects in Britain and elsewhere.

Leasehold systems offer a flexible form of land tenure that can be designed to provide an ongoing stream of revenue to finance public infrastructure. Leasing public land has long been advocated as a viable land tenure option for former socialist countries and other transitional economies. However, the debate about land tenure has been influenced more by ideology and preconceptions than by careful study of existing leasehold systems. This book examines such systems and presents recommendations for their future role.

This report, spurred by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, identifies a set of policies, regulations, and administrative practices that federal agencies can adopt to help coastal metropolitan regions recover quickly from natural disasters and reduce future risk in the face of climate change and rising sea levels. 

Through hundreds of photographs and maps, landscape architect and urban designer Julie Campoli showcases 12 vibrant North American neighborhoods where residents can live comfortably without a car. By identifying the policies and amenities that foster such streetscapes, Campoli teaches urban developers, decision makers, and students how to create similar communities and help to mitigate climate change by lowering vehicle miles traveled.
 

This report—the precursor to Planet of Cities—​provides policy makers and planners with a conceptual framework for understanding urban expansion and provides research-based suggestions for how to prepare for the sustainable growth of cities in the coming decades.

The data, images, metrics, and methodology from Making Room for a Planet of Cities are available in an accompanying subcenter, the Atlas of Urban Expansion. 

“[This] visionary book provides a high-level map that charts a path through a set of daunting challenges, imagining step-by-step the choreography of reconfiguring, and thereby renewing, the landscape of great swaths of the country. And it suggests how, based on our experience as a nation in extricating ourselves from previous difficulties, we can experiment our way through necessary changes and develop the necessary institutional structures to implement them.”
— Journal of the American Planning Association

Megaregions can help the United States contend with its mega-challenges. With shared economies, natural resource systems, infrastructure, history, and culture, these linked networks of metropolitan areas and their hinterlands—such as the Southwestern Sun Corridor or Great Lakes—can strengthen climate resilience, natural resource management, economic competitiveness, and equity at the local, regional, and national levels in the United States.  
This source book provides updated demographic, economic, and environmental information on U.S. megaregions for urban and regional planners, policy makers, academics, and decision makers in transportation, environmental protection, and development agencies. The book reviews the origins of the megaregion concept and the economic, ecological, demographic, and political dynamics. Readers will understand trends, processes, and innovative practices within and between megaregions and identify the most pressing challenges that demand strategic decisions and actions.

Based on the proceedings of Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s fourth annual cross-disciplinary land policy conference, this volume collects scholarly work by a wide range of experts in land policy, tax policy, economics, and urban planning.

Municipal Revenues and Land Policies offers analysis of a variety of municipal revenue instruments such as intergovernmental transfers, property tax, tax increment financing, and local option sales and income taxes. Other nontraditional public good financing mechanisms including business improvement districts, homeowners' associations, impact fees, certificates of additional construction potential, debt financing, and public-private partnerships are examined. The analysis focuses on comparing the viability of these municipal revenue sources in the face of fiscal uncertainty. 

Deemed “one of the best books of 2016” by the American Society of Landscape Architects’ The Dirt, this illustrated collection of essays by leading international architects, landscape architects, city planners, and urban designers demonstrates the economic, environmental, and public health benefits of integrating nature more fully into cities. 

In the face of increasing complexity and uncertainty, planners, public officials, and community residents need new tools to anticipate and shape the future. Opening Access to Scenario Planning Tools examines the current state of scenario planning and scenario planning tools that can help communities and regions prepare for that future through a variety of visioning, land use, transportation, and other planning efforts. A unique opportunity presents itself to use the best and latest technology to help citizens visualize the future of their cities and regions, so that they might chart a course for sustainable growth.

Decisions about the future are often controversial due to competing economic interests, different cultural values, and divergent views about property rights and the role of government. Broader and more effective civic engagement is needed to ensure community support for decisions about development and other land-related policies, and public investments. The traditional predict-and-plan paradigm is inadequate to address all of these challenges. The authors identify a clear need to develop and implement planning tools and processes that foster anticipation and adaptation.

Three concepts will be critical to the scenario planning and tool-building process: collaboration, capacity building, and creation of an open environment for engagement. Collaborative problem solving facilitates resolution of interrelated issues that cannot be resolved by one organization alone. Capacity building is needed to enable individuals and organizations to apply scenario planning methods and tools effectively to their specific planning concerns. An open environment for information sharing and education will help accelerate the use and improvement of scenario planning tools in multiple settings.

The emergence of new and improved scenario planning tools over the last 10 years offers promise that the use of scenario planning can increase and that the goal of providing open access to the full potential of scenario planning tools is within reach. This report recommends seven immediate actions that could be implemented quickly to facilitate this goal. A group of tool developers, planners, and other users convened by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Sonoran Institute, including the co-authors of this report, are already working to advance these efforts. 

This book puts forth a science of cities to help prepare for the mass urban in-migration expected by 2050, by which time 70 percent of the global human population is expected to live in metropolitan areas, according to the Untied Nations. Drawing on data from the Atlas of Urban Expansion, which uses satellite imagery to measure urban growth and related factors, it provides planners, elected officials, and other policy makers with the conceptual framework, basic empirical data, and practical agenda necessary to manage development at sustainable densities throughout the world. 
 

Planning for Climate Change in the West offers regional planners techniques for addressing climate change concerns while they focus on issues affecting regional growth.

A warmer and dryer climate in the mountain states along with federal policies to reduce green house gas emissions affects regional planning. The report provides examples how local action does reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption when planners modify building codes, land use policies covering open spaces and forests, water use and transportation routes.

Planning for climate change in the mountain West requires an understanding of barriers created by local political, demographic and cultural conditions. Since there are climate skeptics among politicians and government staff in the intermountain west, the report identifies strategies to use when developing land and designing buildings that lessen the impact on climate change.

This Policy Focus Report acknowledges the critical role of local planners in confronting challenges posed by climate change. Local officials engaged in planning for climate change must focus on the economic savings of mitigating and adapting to climate change as they tailor federal and state efforts to suit local and regional needs. Managing regional growth by focusing on effective water management, energy generation and transportation management leads to sustainable communities. Buildings which conserve energy, reduce water needs and are located near regional transportation help local governments and consumers save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the mountain west.

The report includes a survey of government staff and elected officials in the Intermountain West indicating skepticism about climate change. Accordingly, Western planners are emphasizing sustainability or economic efficiency, rather than climate change, in their decisions to manage water supplies, reduce energy consumption, increase transportation efficiency, and protect open space.

Planning for Climate Change in the West was a product of the joint venture partnership of the Lincoln Institute and the Sonoran Institute, now called Western Lands and Communities.

Editor Richard K. Brail has brought together the wisest of the field’s thinkers, the most inventive of the toolmakers, the most experienced of those working at the interface with real clients, and the most battle-seasoned practicing planners (and many of these individuals occupy more than one of these niches). Together they present a broad view of support systems, in-depth developmental histories of the most important models and tools as told by their creators, and a provocative, in-the-trenches critique of the state of the art.

En este informe, se brinda información nueva y actualizada sobre las colaboraciones actuales en el ámbito de las políticas entre los fideicomisos comunitarios de tierras (CLT, por su sigla en inglés), las ciudades, los condados y los estados que trabajan para abordar la crisis de asequibilidad de vivienda. A partir de su propia experiencia, y en combinación con los aportes de más de 115 profesionales de CLT y otros expertos de todo el país, los autores identifican tendencias relevantes en relación con estos fideicomisos y comparten ejemplos de asociaciones innovadoras y efectivas. Además, ofrecen una serie de recomendaciones basadas en evidencia para los profesionales y los responsables de las políticas que desean hallar nuevas formas de lograr que la vivienda propia sea más asequible y accesible.

​This Spanish language report provides new and updated information about current policy collaborations among community land trusts (CLT), cities, counties, and states working to address the housing affordability crisis. Combining their own expertise with input provided by more than 115 CLT practitioners and other experts across the country, the authors identify significant trends in the community land trust landscape, share examples of innovative and effective partnerships, and offer a series of evidence-based recommendations for policy makers and practitioners who want to find new ways to make homeownership more affordable and accessible.

About the Authors
John Emmeus Davis is a city planner who has spent much of his 40-year career providing technical assistance to CLTs. He is a partner at Burlington Associates in Community Development LLC, a national consulting cooperative, and a founding board member of the International Center for CLTs.
Kristin King-Ries is an attorney whose practice is focused on creating and stewarding permanently affordable homes and farms for people priced out of the traditional real estate market. She previously served as general counsel for Trust Montana from 2017 to 2021.

 

The recent boom and bust in house prices generated widespread fallout, affecting metropolitan areas across the country. But the extent of the damage varied widely, suggesting that local market conditions also played an important role in determining how the crisis played out. As a result, national aggregates were an unreliable guide to both housing performance and the design of policies to mitigate the crisis.

Based on their recent research for the Lincoln Institute, James R. Follain and Seth H. Giertz document how econometric models can be used to address some of the complex issues that have arisen since the house price bust. In particular, these models provide valuable insights into the interrelationships between house price patterns and their drivers—including new drivers that changed the fundamental dynamics of housing markets, such as the size of the distressed real estate inventory, the pace of price appreciation, and the amount of subprime lending.

These changes made policymaking in mid-crisis especially challenging. To illustrate this point, the authors analyze one of the major programs put in place to stem the spread of foreclosures. The Housing Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was developed in 2007 just as the destructive fallout of the crisis began to appear. Traditional tools for measuring and managing the crisis were insufficient. The design of HAMP thus rested upon a number of critical judgments about borrower and lender behavior made without benefit of strong empirical support. While recognizing the challenges of responding to a bust once it has begun, the authors suggest that attempts to deal with any future crises of this type would benefit from certain different design decisions:

• an initial focus on hardest-hit markets to fine-tune program parameters,
• development of longer-term forecasts of house prices for local markets,
• greater efforts to foster more cooperation among all levels of government, and
• fuller recognition of the inherent weaknesses of securitization.

The report then discusses how econometric results can also be used to identify and prevent, or at least limit, the formation of future house price bubbles. Analysts often mention two specific options for combating unsustainable price increases: monetary policy and countercyclical capital policies. Follain and Giertz argue that monetary policy is of limited use in this arena, given that price appreciation varies so widely across local markets. Countercyclical capital buffers—which would raise capital requirements for financial institutions during the initial stages of the price bubble and reduce them during the period of decline—are a much more promising policy direction because they could be designed to put the brakes on only in those markets where bubbles appear to be developing. The growing availability of geographically granular data make this approach to bubble prevention much more viable than in the past.
 

This book by Daniel Cole and Elinor Ostrom, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics, shows how property rights systems affect the use of scarce natural resources. It is a rich source of information for those involved in conservation, land dispute resolution, land market regulation, public policy, and zoning. 

The Lincoln Institute’s third annual land policy conference explored the connections between property rights and land policies in developed and developing country contexts. The chapter authors discuss a range of topics including regulatory takings, the use of eminent domain and expropriation in land assembly, the emergence of private property rights in transition economies, marketable emission permits, natural resource management, and the impacts of tenure choice on land and housing development.

This policy focus report examines options that exist for timely and efficient aid to needy taxpayers, including circuit breaker programs that reduce taxes based on income level; truth in taxation measures; deferral options on property tax payments; partial exemptions on owner-occupied or homestead properties; and classified tax rates.

This book is the first comprehensive study of the property tax in Africa. Rigorously researched, it reviews and analyzes developments in the policies, laws, and administrative practices in 29 countries and offers public officials and practitioners on the ground information to meet the fiscal challenges of rapid urbanization in Africa. 

This contributed volume showcases the first comprehensive assessment of the property tax in Asia, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It provides authoritative data on legislation, tax administration practices, revenue statistics, reform proposals, new technology, and political debate to raise awareness of the potential for land-based revenue throughout these regions. 
This volume is essential for advisors on tax reform and implementation; academics, teachers, and researchers in public finance; national ministries of finance and local government; and universities and libraries.

This volume from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a global authority on the property tax, offers the first comparative analysis of property tax systems across Europe. With in-depth case studies from more than a dozen countries, Property Tax in Europe spotlights examples and lessons that have international applicability, including successful institutional transitions, use of the property tax as a land policy instrument, and innovative technological applications. Property Tax in Europe is the third title in a series on international property taxation, following Property Tax in Africa: Status, Challenges, and Prospects (2017) and Property Tax in Asia: Policy and Practice (2022). Featured countries include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, Russia, Slovenia, and Spain.

About the Editors
Riël Franzsen holds the South African Research Chair in Tax Policy and Governance and is the director of the African Tax Institute at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Roy Bahl is Emeritus Regents Professor of Economics and founding dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He is Extraordinary Professor of economics in the African Tax Institute at the University of Pretoria.
William McCluskey is Extraordinary Professor in the African Tax Institute at the University of Pretoria.

This report is the go-to resource on the options that U.S. states have to provide property tax relief for homeowners without compromising municipal fiscal health or services. Policy makers frequently face political pressure to reduce property taxes, but many approaches undercut the success of adopted policies. The authors present the pros and cons of measures that can effectively provide relief without undermining the property tax system. By covering the full range of policies, this report is relevant in practically any state policy debate about property tax relief.

This report will be an essential resource for state legislators, governors, students of public finance, and policy makers who help make decisions about property tax relief.

The property tax is unpopular among both scholars and taxpayers, yet many scholars have proposed ideas to rehabilitate this tax and its role in local public finance. Based on a 2000 Lincoln Institute conference, this book reviews the economics of local property taxation and examines its policy implications. The chapters are written in a nontechnical form for policy makers and other noneconomists.

This is the first comprehensive overview of property taxation in post-apartheid South Africa. Presented are the perspectives of researchers who have spent years analyzing the fiscal issues facing South Africa, as well as public finance experts and practitioners from that country. The book enhances understanding of land and building taxation in specific settings and presents a case study of the complex reality of an ever-changing South Africa.

How have California’s local governments coped with the severe revenue restrictions of Prop 13? What effects has the property tax revolution had on urban growth patterns in the state? Has the act produced viable and lasting reform, or was it a tragic mistake? The expert analyses in this ten-year review still have relevance nearly 25 years after Prop 13 was adopted.

This collection of essays examines underutilized, abandoned, and vacant urban land within political, economic, institutional, and policy contexts. The 11 chapters raise the essential questions: Is vacant land an opportunity or an obstacle? Are brownfields a legacy of prior industrial wealth, or of illegal and dangerous contamination? Is a land inventory vital to community needs for future growth, or the symbol of political shortsightedness? Is the reclamation of land the first step in an urban turnaround, or a giveaway of local assets?

This best seller for regional planners introduces the foundations and applications of their practice in the United States. It offers guidance and inspiration to help professionals and students understand local issues in a regional and global context, define planning regions based on functional problems, and collaborate across regions as never before to advance sustainability and improve quality of life. 

No recent happening in land conservation rivals the rapid expansion of conservation easements and the related growth in the number of land trusts over the past 15 years. Among the forces driving this phenomenon are tax and other public subsidies and the view that the conservation easement is a win-win strategy in land protection. The thesis of this policy focus report is that conservation easements are a valuable land protection tool, complementing regulation, land acquisition, and tax policies, but that reforms are needed in tax and other laws and conventions governing easements, lest we risk losing the public benefits for which the easements were established.

In this practical guide, two well-known experts argue that municipal leaders can dramatically improve the quality of life in their communities by adjusting local land use regulations. Barnett, one of the pioneers of the modern practice of city design, and Blaesser, a land use and real estate lawyer, lay out strategies to preserve the natural environment, create desirable civic spaces, conserve historic buildings, reduce housing inequality, ease the pressures of urban sprawl, and deal with floods, erosion, and wildfire. 

This book reports on national, state, and local responses to climate-related risks of sea level rise and storm surge, drought and water shortage, floods, wildfires, and heat waves in nine coastal city regions: New York City, the Southeastern states, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the United States; and Melbourne, Sydney, South East Queensland, and Perth in Australia. 

State and local governments use many types of property tax incentives to increase business development. This report reviews those incentives, summarizes the literature regarding their effectiveness, and makes recommendations for reforming their use to help policy makers and local government officials improve the odds of achieving their development goals.

This report focuses on the roles of the local property tax and state aid in the funding of public education and analyzes their strengths and weaknesses. A key theme is the property tax-school funding dilemma--the challenge of overcoming the shortcomings of both the local property tax and state aid in a way that assures that state school funding systems can finance an adequate education for all students in an equitable and efficient manner.
Case studies of five states (California, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin) illustrate the complexities of the dilemma. The report concludes with 11 recommendations. Some recommendations focus on ways to make the local property tax more equitable and efficient; others suggest ways to improve state aid for K-12 education. A final recommendation argues for an expansion of federal education aid to assist low-income states and to address learning loss arising from the COVID19 pandemic.

This second edition of Sistemas del impuesto predial presents new data, lessons, and challenges related to property tax systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. The completely updated text discusses the current state of legal frameworks, administrative practices, and emerging trends in the 10 countries included in the first edition—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, and Uruguay—and includes four new chapters exploring property taxation in Bolivia, Mexico, Panama, and Paraguay.

Esta segunda edición de Sistemas del impuesto predial presenta información, lecciones, y desafíos nuevos relacionados con los sistemas del impuesto predial en América Latina y el Caribe. El texto, el cual ha sido completamente actualizado, discute el estado legal actual, las prácticas administrativas y las tendencias emergentes en los diez países incluidos en la primera edición —Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Perú y Uruguay— e incluye cuatro nuevos capítulos explorando el impuesto predial en Bolivia, México, Panamá y Paraguay.

Smart growth and its role in future planning and development remain confusing to many, including decision makers in the public arena who represent citizens hungry for strong policy, planning, and design solutions. The essays in this book cover the history of suburban growth, consequences of current growth and technological change, assumptions about design, urban and suburban neglect and revival, property rights, and environmental ethics.

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy collaborated with 14 leading land use researchers and planners to measure and compare outcomes in four states with statewide smart growth programs (Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and Oregon) and four states without such programs (Colorado, Indiana, Texas, and Virginia).