Border Wars: Tax Revenues, Annexation, and Urban Growth in Phoenix (revised version)

Carol E. Heim

Working Papers from Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Abstract: Phoenix and neighboring municipalities, like many in the South and West, pursued a growth strategy based on annexation in the decades after World War II. This paper explores the link between annexation and competition for tax revenues. After discussing arguments for annexation, it traces the history of annexation in the Phoenix metropolitan area. A long-running series of "border wars" entailed litigation, pre-emptive annexations, and considerable intergovernmental conflict. The paper argues that tax revenues have been a key motivation for annexation, particularly since the 1970s. It then considers several related policy issues and argues that while opportunities for annexation are becoming more limited, competition for tax revenues (particularly sales tax revenues) continues to be fierce and to create dilemmas for municipalities in the region(Paper revised July 2006.)

Keywords: annexation; municipal revenues; sales tax; Phoenix; urban growth; intergovernmental relations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H71 H77 N92 R51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-pbe and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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