Fiscal Decentralization, Revenue Assignment, And The Case For The Property Tax In South Africa

Roy W. Bahl ()

International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU from International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

Abstract: South Africa is at a crossroads in its decentralization policy. On the one hand, it has declared its intention to strengthen the fiscal powers of local governments. On the other hand, the institutional arrangement necessary to guarantee fiscal decentralization, the power to raise local revenues, has not yet been fully defined. Nor has a target been set for the vertical division of resources between the central and lower levels of government. The revenue dimension of fiscal decentralization in South Africa is the subject of this paper. In this paper, we describe the system of local government and local government finance in South Africa. We turn then to a discussion of the normative criteria for proper revenue assignment in an intergovernmental system, and to an evaluation of each of the major revenue sources. In that context, we consider the potential role of the property tax as a source of financing local government in South Africa.

Keywords: Fiscal Decentralization; Revenue Assignment; Property Tax; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-06-01
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0107

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