State gram programs aimed at equalizing local government fiscal capacities and metropolitan-wide programs for the sharing of property tax bases are very similar in terms of objectives as well as operation. The Twin Cities tax base sharing system, which has served as a model for numerous other proposals, has some serious deficiencies; a proposal for eliminating these defects is developed by viewing tax base sharing as a set of fiscal capacity equalizing grants. Alternative formulas are evaluated, and the merits of tax base sharing at the state rather than metropolitan level are discussed.
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