Who pays for growth in the city of Phoenix? An equity-based perspective on suburbanization

The authors test the hypothesis that there is significant spatial mismatch between property taxation and capital investment in inner, middle, and suburban parts of the city of Phoenix. They empirically test a hedonic model of assessed valuation of homes and find that a typical suburban house within Phoenix city limits bears a lower tax burden than the same house in the inner city. Their study also demonstrates that suburban areas receive 40% to 100% more per household in specific capital improvement monies than the average household in the city. The results suggest a cross-subsidization of suburban growth by inner-city dollars.