Real Estate Tax Delinquency in the Central City: Private Disinvestment and Public Response

Details:
Real estate tax delinquency is emerging as a major component of the urban fiscal crisis, affecting cities as diverse as Houston, Pitts-burgh, New York, and Atlanta. A large and increasing proportion of uncollected taxes wreaks havoc with any city’s budgetary and planning process. Even more important, a growing rate of tax delinquency is symptomatic of fundamental changes in the role of the city in the American political economy. This study examines the tax delinquency issue as one component of the flight of private capital from the central city. Delinquency trends in 48 cities over a 25-year period are analyzed to set the national context, and an in-depth case study examines the problem at the neighborhood level. Interviews with 158 delinquent property owners uncover the reasoning behind the delinquency decision. Public policy options are evaluated in light of the severe practical and ideological limitations on public response to private disinvestment.