Law Commons^™

Equal Protection - Property Taxes As A Method Of Funding Public Education; San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez, Mark K. Croft

Akron Law Review

Suit was brought in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas challenging the constitutionality of the Texas school financing system on the theory that it discriminated on a basis of wealth, permitting provision of a higher quality of education to be offered the children in property-rich school districts while residents pay a lower tax rate, thus denying equal protection of the law.' The District Court found the laws forming this system unconstitutional on this basis. Appeal brought the case to the Supreme Court in October of 1972, where it was reversed.

Financing America's Public Infrastructure: Issues For Local Governments, Shelley C. Vazmina

Akron Law Review

This comment examines the role state and local government financing has played in America's infrastructure crisis. This comment also recognizes that infrastructure financing issues in declining cities differ from infrastructure issues due to population expansion.

Part I is particularly relevant to declining cities. It reviews traditional methods by which state and local government obtain operating revenues, and the use of these revenues for infrastructure. It discusses trends and developments which have made traditional financing schemes less useful for infrastructure.

Part II applies in large part to growing cities. Growth creates demand for new infrastructure while straining existing core infrastructure. Alternative …

An Error In Methodology: Inclusion Of External Costs Of Sales In Property Valuations, Joel L. Terwilliger

Akron Tax Journal

Ironically, courts have upheld the protectionist policies behind the counterpart to the sales tax-the use tax. The application of the use tax serves the dual purpose of preventing the out of state migration of purchases of tangible personal property and to ensure a steady flow of revenue to the state treasury coffers. This dual purpose is based on a primary goal: to prevent avoidance of the sales tax. However, unlike sales taxes, use taxes paid on items of tangible personal property are not added to the value of the property for property tax assessments. This dichotomy presents serious problems for …