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Myth and Fact 11 <br />MYTH ONE FACTONE <br />Unfortunately for local governments, a growing body of evidence shows that <br />sprawling development often does not pay enough property tax to cover the serv- <br />ices it requires. A study conducted for a suburban community outside Milwaukee <br />found that public services for an average-price single-family house in that commu- <br />nity cost more than twice as much as the property taxes paid by the homeowner.12 <br />One reason for the disparity between property tax revenue and the cost of public <br />services is expenditures for public schools. Low-density suburbs and exurban areas <br />generally attract families with more school-age children. In fact, single-family <br />developments average 64 children for every 100 units, compared with only 21 chil- <br />dren for every 100 units of garden apartments and 19 children for every 100 units <br />of mid- to high-rise apartments.13 The reason is that multifamily housing attracts <br />predominantly childless couples, singles, and empty nesters. <br />And although apartment renters do not pay property tax directly, apartment owners <br />do. Apartments are also usually taxed at a higher commercial real estate tax rate,14 <br />so a typical mixed-use development with retail, office, and apartments may subsidize <br />the schools and other public services required by residents of low-density housing in <br />the same community. This phenomenon is further exacerbated because many multi- <br />family developments and retail and office establishments pay for their own trash dis- <br />posal, shuttle buses, and security. <br />Reducing the distance between homes, shops, and offices also reduces the cost of <br />public infrastructure. According to one of many studies, “The public capital and <br />operating costs for close-in, compact development [are] much lower than they <br />[are] for fringe, scattered, linear, and satellite development.”15 And many of these <br />studies do not take into account the advantages created by making public transit <br />20 <br />15 <br />10 <br />5 <br />0 <br />–5 <br />PROJECTED HOUSEHOLD GROWTH: 2000–2010 <br />Families <br />with <br />No Children <br />16.0% <br />Nonfamily <br />Households <br />14.0% <br />Families <br />with Children <br />Under 18 <br />–3.0%PERCENTAGE GROWTH RATE <br />TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD <br />Source:Projections of Number of Households and Families in the United States: 1995–2010 <br />(Washington, D.C.:U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996).