Partisan Inequality in Property Tax Assessments: A Fiscal Burden on Political Minorities

• In Event: Property Taxation and Its Socioeconomic Ripple Effects

Abstract

We document a political partisanship-based assessment gap that imposes a disproportionate fiscal burden on political minorities. In Democratic counties, Republicans face higher property tax burdens than Democrats within the same tax jurisdiction, despite being subject to identical tax administration and rates. This partisan assessment gap is economically significant, amounting to 25-50% of the racial assessment gap. The effects are primarily driven by inter-neighborhood differences rather than within-neighborhood variations and stem from disparities in assessment values rather than market values. Political polarization, differences in tax regimes and wealth, and inconsistencies in tax assessments do not explain these findings. Instead, the composition of elected county officials contributes to our results. The higher tax burden for Republicans in Democratic counties is most pronounced in areas with predominantly Democratic county commissions and decreases as Republican representation in local government increases.

Author

• Ankit Kalda, Indiana University