The Fiscal Impacts Of Rural Residential Development

Rural residential development has become an increasingly important issue in many counties around the United States. Empirical tests are provided to determine if rural residential development is a net fiscal loss for county governments, following work by the American Farmland Trust. This study focuses on measuring the net fiscal impacts of rural residential development on Wyoming county governments. An econometric model is developed and used to estimate county revenues, county expenditures, school district revenues, and school district expenditures. The estimated model does not verify that rural residential development is always a net loss to county governments on the margin. However, using a representative scenario, it is shown that such development can be a net fiscal loss on average, the extent to which is a function of assumptions tied to the analysis.

Thanks to Chris Steins