A variety of policies, programs, and strategies have been designed to provide assistance, directly or indirectly, to businesses for the purpose of promoting economic development in a community. This book provides a comprehensive and detailed discussion of the uses, structures, and impacts of tax increment financing (TIF), one of the most widely used state and local economic development policies. Offering specific examples, cases, surveys, and empirical evidence, it addresses how TIF works, why TIF is adopted, and what impacts TIF has on local economic development.

"This book provides the most complete discussion of TIF policies that I have seen. The cases are drawn from original data that focus attention on the development and application of this policy instrument. They demonstrate how TIF may fulfill or fall short of the original intent for this policy tool."

Barbara Coyle McCabe, Arizona State University