Effects of property value assessment limit portability on migration outflows

Abstract This study examines the impact of the 2008 portability provision of Florida's property value assessment limit, which permits homeowners to transfer the benefit of assessment limitations, on in‐state out‐migration. Leveraging IRS county‐to‐county migration data and quasi‐experimental designs, we find increased household and individual in‐state, county‐to‐county outflows following portability implementation in Florida relative to other states by 478 households (4.8%) and 675 individuals (3.5%). Our results suggest that natural amenities, rather than home‐ownership rates or property value growth, drive migration outflows. Robustness checks reveal heterogeneous responses across metro and nonmetro counties, suggesting that urbanization may accelerate after adopting the provision.