Redlining's Hidden Legacy: Racial Disparities in Property Tax Systems
Property tax systems are how most of us pay for local government. Even if we don’t own our own homes or commercial spaces, landlords typically pass through the cost of property taxes to tenants. Local property tax systems in turn play a huge role in planning, zoning, placemaking, and capital improvement planning. Upon closer inspection, property tax systems everywhere overburden some communities while under-burdening others. The pattern of those communities is one familiar to many — it’s the pattern of redlining. Property tax systems have been helping preserve racial di...