State supervision over raising revenue takes various
forms. It is common for state legislatures to institute
stringent limits and controls on taxes and revenue
sources for local governments. Type s of statutory controls include limiting the types of revenues that can be
raised, exempting some properties from the tax base,
and placing caps on tax rates . State s specify revenue
types and sources avail able to local governments. Historically, property taxes were the predominant source
of local government revenue and they continue to b
the primary revenue source for school districts. State
controls applied to property tax include methods of
asses sing pro perty value, creating or denying exemptions , and limiting tax rates.