Brownfields remediation: Impact on local residential property tax revenue

Abstract

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Program provides grants to assess and clean up brownfields. There are few studies that estimate tax revenue impacts from cleanup beyond those generated directly from within the remediated site's property lines. This study estimates the increased residential property tax revenue attributable to brownfields cleanup at 48 sites remediated between 2004 and 2011 under the EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grants Program. Findings from a previous study of a 5% to 15.2% property value increase following cleanup at these sites are applied to the assessed values of nearby residential properties along with local tax laws, assessment ratios, and rates to estimate tax revenue gained as a result of brownfields cleanup. The estimated increase in residential property tax revenue for a single tax year from remediating 48 brownfields properties was between $29 million and $97 million (2014 USD).