Tax increment financing (TIF) has been adopted widely by municipalities in the United States as an economic development tool. Despite the large number of state initiatives and TIF's increasing popularity, few statistical studies have been conducted to examine the direct effect of the TIF program from an economic perspective. This article analyzes the effect of TIF plans on property value growth by comparing pre-TIF to post-TIF property value changes in a first-difference model. The empirical results from a panel of Indiana cities indicate that the TIF program has increased median owner-occupied housing values in a TIF-adopting city by 11% relative to what it would have been without TIF. This finding suggests that the TIF program effectively stimulates property value growth in an entire community.Over the past few decades, state and local governments have provided various tax and financial incentives in an attempt to stimulate local economic development. One of the most popular local development tools is tax increment financing (TIF). TIF has been used primarily as a means to pay for the public investments or improvements (i.e., water and sewer lines, streets, lighting, parking lots, land procurement, etc.) needed to attract economic development or retain businesses that are seeking to expand. The TIF program largely freezes the assessed valuation of all parcels in a designated area (the TIF district). Property taxes levied on this frozen tax base continue to accrue to local taxing bodies. Taxes produced from the increases in AUTHORS' NOTE: We thank Norman Walzer, John Mikesell, Kurt Zom, Bob Kirk, and two anonymous referees for their very helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. We are indebted to the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment at Indiana University (Indianapolis) for financial and other support. Any remaining errors are our own.