JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
  • About K
  • Academics
  • Admission
  • Alumni Relations
  • Giving to K
  • News & Events
  • Student Life
  • HORNET HIVE
  • ATHLETICS
  • SITEMAP
  • WEBMAIL
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   CACHE Homepage
    • Academic Departments, Programs, and SIPs
    • Economics and Business
    • Economics and Business Senior Integrated Projects
    • View Item
    •   CACHE Homepage
    • Academic Departments, Programs, and SIPs
    • Economics and Business
    • Economics and Business Senior Integrated Projects
    • View Item

    Blaming the Victim: An Examination of the Life Cycles of Local Governmental Units and Their Relation to Urban Sprawl

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Searchable PDF / Kalamazoo College Only (2.522Mb)
    Date
    2007
    Author
    McVittie, Scott A., Jr
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This paper is an examination of the life cycles of local governmental units and the role of urban sprawl within the cycle. The study area for the project is a 14 county area in Southwest and Southcentral Michigan, including a deeper case study of the Kalamazoo area. As seen in the background section, much has been written - both good and bad - about urban sprawl as well as the problems that central cities face, but little has been done to systematically determine how sprawl affects local governmental units and where the blame should lie for central cities' problems. This paper is in response to that void and will examine the interaction between urban sprawl and local governments. The first analysis of the paper is a regression that models the tax rate of a governmental unit as a function of its percent change in population over the previous four years, percent change in density over the previous four years, and the difference in the commercial to commercial plus residential SEV ratio over the previous four years, as well as city, central city, and charter township dummy variables. It is expected that population will have a positive relationship to the tax rate, while density and the ratio will have negative relationships. Additionally, the dummy variables are all expected to have positive relationships. The justification for these expectations is that as population increases more services must be provided, as density increases economies of scale are realized and tax rates decrease, since commercial properties have fewer costs associated with them as the proportion of commercially developed land relative to commercially and residentially developed land increases the tax rate will decrease, and the nature of the dummy variables indicate a higher tax rate. After running a regression analysis, all variables are significant and related as expected with an R2 value of. 7662, making it a relatively good fit to the data. These results show a system of local finance that provides incentives for sprawl while the tendencies of urban sprawl such as lower densities in central cities and commercial development taking place in the suburban areas are undermining the fiscal situations of central cities. The second analysis is a case study of the City of Kalamazoo, the City of Portage, Oshtemo Township, and Texas Township. The first topic examined is the growth rates of their total expenditures. Nominally they all show growth; however, when viewed in terms of real dollars the growth rates are much lower or stagnant. The critical piece of this analysis is the introduction of a theoretical growth path of the expenditures of local governmental units experiencing growth that follows the pattern of urban sprawl. This theoretical model is supported with evidence collected from the four municipalities of the case study. The results of the analyses of this paper show a clear incentive for urban sprawl in the structure of local financing system as well as clear indications that the central cities are often not to blame for the problems they face. Furthermore, the case study advances and supports a theoretical growth path for local expenditures. The hope of the paper is that these analyses will show that sprawl is damaging to central cities and actually causes many of the problems they face while providing insight into the evolution of local governmental units under the pattern of urban sprawl type growth.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10920/26276
    Collections
    • Economics and Business Senior Integrated Projects [1198]

    Browse

    All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Login

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2023  DuraSpace
    DSpace Express is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
    Logo

    Kalamazoo College
    1200 Academy Street
    Kalamazoo Michigan 49006-3295
    USA
    Info 269-337-7000
    Admission 1-800-253-3602

    About K
    Academics
    Admission
    Alumni Relations
    Giving to K
    News & Events
    Student Life
    Sitemap
    Map & Directions
    Contacts
    Directories
    Nondiscrimination Policy
    Consumer Information
    Official disclaimer
    Search this site


    Academic Calendars
    Apply
    Bookstore
    Crisis Response
    Employment
    Library
    Registrar
    DSpace Express is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV