This paper reviews the literature of property taxation in order to assess the implications and prospects for property tax reform. Four different types of property tax reform are considered: A change in the present system of local property taxation to a State-wide property tax; A change in the present tax on real property to a tax on only the site value; An abolition of the property tax; Adoption of a discriminatory tax policy for land use control.

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.