A rural service charge or rural tax rate reflects that rural properties typically receive fewer municipal services than urban properties and may therefore pay different tax amounts. Rural areas often lack sidewalks, streetlights, transit, and urban-level road maintenance. Some municipalities have separate rural and urban tax rates acknowledging these service differences. Others charge uniform rates but provide different service levels by area. The appropriate treatment of rural versus urban properties in taxation is debated—rural residents may feel they subsidize urban services, while urban residents may note the high per-capita cost of serving sparse rural populations.