Professor Phuong Nguyen has published a co-authored study in Economic Development Quarterly examining how tax increment financing (TIF) influences property values in Nebraska school districts.

This study tests whether tax increment financing (TIF)—a tool heavily used in Midwestern states—actually relates to higher school-district property values in Nebraska. Rather than assuming TIF works uniformly, the authors ask whether its impacts differ across local socioeconomic conditions. Using a balanced panel of Nebraska school districts from 2010–2023, Professor Nguyen and his co-authors estimate difference-in-differences and event-study models to compare property-value trajectories before and after changes in TIF use. This approach targets causal interpretation by controlling for district and time effects and tracing dynamic responses following TIF adoption, with heterogeneity analyses by poverty and income tiers to identify which types of school districts benefit more or less.

The results show no statistically significant statewide effect of TIF on property values—but that’s only part of the story. The distribution of effects is highly uneven: advantaged communities tend to gain while disadvantaged ones often do not. In the highest-income tercile, a $1 million increase in TIF excess value (about 4% of that group’s mean) corresponds to a modest annual property-value increase of about 0.2% (roughly $5 million). In contrast, in the lowest-income tercile, the same $1 million increase (about 14% of its mean) is linked to an annual decline of around 0.6% (approximately $0.8 million).

In short, while TIF is designed to stimulate economic development and broaden the tax base, its benefits appear concentrated in wealthier districts, with little to no improvement—and sometimes decline—in poorer ones. These findings suggest that TIF may reinforce the very inequalities it was meant to reduce.

The full article, The Cost of Development: How TIF Relates to Property Values Across Nebraska School Districts, is available in Economic Development Quarterly. It marks the first research article by Professor Nguyen on TIF in Nebraska. He has published five research studies on TIF in Iowa, examining its effects on school district income, on business entries and exits, on rural school districts’ property tax base and rates, on local governments’ property value, and school district expenditures. His work on TIF continues to contribute to our understanding of how this popular economic development tool reshapes local economies, public finance, and community well-being in Midwestern states.