If it sometimes seems as though federal benefit programs fail to take adequate account of differences in the cost of living across the country, rest assured that someone already thought of that. In fact, a more robust poverty measure exists; it just doesn’t get used for anything.
October 2013, Volume 31, Issue 20
Poverty Redefined
Variations in Property Tax Burdens
Differences in the role of the property tax among states is typically shown by reporting a given state’s reliance on the tax as a component of its state-local mix. A new study instead looks at the burden imposed by the tax on households, and finds significant variation among states.
