The Fiscalization of Land Use

Abstract

The fiscalization of land use—the use of land use planning and development to encourage revenue production as a first-order goal became important in the United States antitax environment of the 1980s. This article applies an application of this outlook to ways of financing public infrastructure. The article presents 17 different techniques beyond more intensive use and cash financing that help to avoid the economic and political constraints imposed by voters. These techniques illustrate the public finance creativity that the fiscalization concept engenders. Nearly all of these techniques employ debt finance instruments that do not need voter approval, and consequently, many are convoluted, arcane, and more expensive than vanilla debt issues. The article closes by discussing unintended consequences and problems.