This section covers: what real and personal properties are taxed, which local jurisdictions levy those property taxes, the basic local property tax rate, what states set as the standard for assessment of property value, the property classifications that have differential tax rates, local jurisdictions’ use of transfer charges when properties change hands, and limits placed by states on local jurisdictions’ authority to use the property tax.
All states have programs that use tax policy to encourage a particular land use and/or to provide property tax relief to selected classes of landowners. Property tax relief programs presented here are grouped according to objectives and/or program structure, such as programs intended to provide relief to homeowners, programs intended to encourage economic development, programs intended to encourage relatively low intensity use (and discourage redevelopment to the "highest and best" use), and so on. Land usage promotion programs apply their usage influence through the assessment process, while most of the relief programs apply their exemptions, credits, or rebates to the property tax payment that is otherwise due.
Structural arrangements include the land use types in use in each of the states to characterize the property tax base and the standard used to value that property.
