Resumen de Brownfields, Crime, and Tax Increment Financing

Deborah A. Carroll, Robert J. Eger III

• When the determinants of property value include a central city¿a location in which private businesses are often reluctant to invest¿property values are no longer a simple function of land and demand features but are also influenced by health and welfare issues such as neighborhood crime and environmental contamination. To maintain economic vitality, central cities require not only the presence of market forces and the provision of public amenities that commonly increase the value of property but also the implementation and effectiveness of public policies directed at stimulating property valuation to combat the negative influences of these unique features of the urban environment. This article examines tax increment financing in relation to the health and welfare issues of crime and brownfields. The authors empirically show that the public policy of tax increment financing can effectively increase districtwide property valuation to counteract the negating effects of crime and brownfields.