Research

Can Public Goods be Self-Financing? An Analysis of Tax Incremental Financing in Wisconsin (Job Market Paper)

(Abstract): I study the effect of adopting tax incremental financing (TIF) on municipal property tax rates using a geographic matched difference-in-difference design that pairs Wisconsin municipalities that adopt TIF between 2000 and 2024 with neighboring control municipalities in the same county. I find, in the five years following TIF adoption, that the municipal property tax rates increase by half. Equivalently, the municipality’s portion of the property tax bill increases by an amount corresponding to a $340 increase in the tax bill on a property valued at $250,000. I investigate several potential contributing factors and find that municipal property tax revenues increase significantly by the fifth year after adoption, corresponding to a weak increase in annual debt spending among adopting municipalities. In addition, I find no significant positive effects of TIF adoption on several measures of the property tax base. Lastly, I complement my primary research design with an intracity analysis of Milwaukee and find suggestive evidence that (1) TIF projects are concentrated in areas with high property values and consistent appreciation rates and (2) generate no positive spillovers on neighboring properties.

Love or Taxes: Separating Tax Benefits from Other Motivations to Marry within Same-sex Partnerships

(Abstract): I examine the impact of access to joint tax benefits on the marriage decisions of same-sex couples. I use a staggered triple difference-in-difference design that compares differences in the probability of marriage for same-sex couples between states with and without preexisting joint tax policies for civil unions and/or domestic partnerships, while accounting for changes to same-sex marriage recognition at the federal level. This approach provides a nuanced understanding of the influence of state-level income tax benefits on marital behavior, separate from federal tax implications, and adds to the recent, but growing, literature on the unique economic decisions of same-sex households. My preliminary findings suggest a small but temporary tax-driven incentive for marriage.