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Informed policy discussions on local property tax reform initiatives require accurate and reliable information about the tax's current use. This paper reviews two popular measures of property tax burden and their limitations. The paper then reports the results of a reconnaissance of measures of effective property tax rates and how they vary across the 50 states. The paper also reports the findings of a 50‐state survey that indicates how states calculated and reported effective property tax rates. These comparisons lead to a suggested framework for certain methodologies for calculating effective property tax rates.

As part of the many changes in post‐apartheid South Africa, few large non‐racial local governments replace relatively small, racially defined ones. The new constitution reserves property taxation for local governments, making it the only major tax available to localities. Property taxation is being extended into previously untaxed areas, principally those of the former black local authorities. It is expected that pressures on this tax will increase as it is called upon to finance services for the larger population Preliminary assessment‐sales ratio studies for a handful of localities indicate a wide range of assessment levels. Such circumstances could undermine the acceptance and legitimacy of the tax and, perhaps, of local government. More frequent valuation might raise both assessment levels and uniformity. Systematic, widespread ratio studies and a closer look at the manner in which values are estimated are needed.

This article analyzes the trends and implications of recent federal aid to state and local government for infrastructure purposes. The first section describes general trends for federal infrastructure and the second section examines identified characteristics in the context of fiscal federalism theory. The authors identify an ad hoc trend in the federal infrastructure grant policy and a trend focusing on maximizing the efficiency of infrastructure grants

Some of the nation's leading scholars of government and public finance provide theirviews on the consequences of a declining property tax base. They show local governmentofficials and others how property tax revenue--or the lack of such revenue--affectslocal autonomy, decision making, and the ability of communities to fund public schoolsand other services.

This article examines recent efforts to establish Community Partnership Grant Programmes (CPG) in six South African communities which provide the financial and organizational infrastructure to support citizen-initiated neighbourhood projects. The authors review their efforts to disseminate the CPG programme model in three different environments in South Africa - a large metropolitan area, three smaller municipalities and two tribal villages - and analyse why preliminary implementation results were positive in some communities but not others. Our findings form the basis of a model of CPG programme implementation based on the mode of implementation and the breadth of stakeholder involvement. We use this model to make recommendations to increase the likelihood of implementation success for similar programmes. (InWent/DÜI)

AbstractThis article examines recent efforts to establish Community Partnership Grant Programmes (CPG) in six South African communities. CPG programmes provide the financial and organizational infrastructure to support citizen‐initiated neighbourhood projects. We review our efforts to disseminate the CPG programme model in three different environments in South Africa—a large metropolitan area, three smaller municipalities and two tribal villages—and analyse why preliminary implementation results were positive in some communities but not others. Our findings form the basis of a model of CPG programme implementation based on the mode of implementation and the breadth of stakeholder involvement. We use this model to make recommendations to increase the likelihood of implementation success for similar programmes. The article concludes with observations about the applicability of the CPG programme idea as a way to develop civic infrastructure, and on the political lessons learned from our implementation experience in South Africa. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The recent dramatic changes in South Africa have created new opportunities for altering the country's basic political and economic institutions. Whilst much attention has been focused on the national level, another crucial strand in the reform movement has been efforts to foster truly effective non-racial local self-government which in turn need adequate own-source revenues. With the predicted increase in the urban black populations, the Black Local Authorities, which are supposed to be financially self-sufficient, will come under increasing pressure. A discriminatory electricity price system and boycotts in response to rapidly rising rents further reduce BLA income. Increasingly, BLAs are coming to rely upon user fees and charges to provide services, but unless the fee structures are carefully designed they become regressive. What is required is a single-tax-base including the local property tax and a local income or value-added tax.