Open space, house prices, and the tax base

This paper examines the effect of public acquisitions of open space on changes in house prices and the municipal tax base using municipal-level data from New Jersey. We find that open-space expenditures yield a stream of benefits in the future but that any effect of open-space acquisitions on the tax base is immediate. Finally, we find that while higher tax rates are associated with a lower tax base, a larger tax base depresses tax rates.