Identifying Determinants of Horizontal Property Tax Inequity: Evidence from Florida

Marcus T. Allen () and William H. Dare ()
Additional contact information
Marcus T. Allen: Florida Atlantic University, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
William H. Dare: Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, OK 74106

Journal of Real Estate Research, 2002, vol. 24, issue 2, 153-164

Abstract: In the property tax literature, an ad valorem property tax is considered equitable if all properties in the taxing jurisdiction are subject to the same effective tax rate. That is, all properties, regardless of value or type, should be taxed at the same percentage of their market value. Because market value is a theoretical construct and not directly observable, errors in estimating market value may result in systematic inequity, with some properties taxed at higher effective rates than others. This study extends previous research on property tax inequity by examining potential determinants of errors in the property valuation process for a sample of single-family homes in Palm Beach County, Florida. The results indicate that assessment difficulty (as measured by the variation around the mean assessment to transaction price ratio) is positively related to lot size, living area, age of the home and the percentage of minority residents in the neighborhood and is negatively related to market activity levels, resident income levels, whether the property is the permanent residence of its owner, and whether the property has a swimming pool. The generality of these results is limited by the use of transaction price as a proxy for unobservable market value.

JEL-codes: L85 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://pages.jh.edu/jrer/papers/pdf/past/vol24n02/03.153_164.pdf Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jre:issued:v:24:n:2:2002:p:153-164

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Diane Quarles American Real Estate Society Manager of Member Services Clemson University Box 341323 Clemson, SC 29634-1323
http://pages.jh.edu/jrer/about/get.htm

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Real Estate Research is currently edited by Dr. Ko Wang

More articles in Journal of Real Estate Research from American Real Estate Society American Real Estate Society Clemson University School of Business & Behavioral Science Department of Finance 401 Sirrine Hall Clemson, SC 29634-1323.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by JRER Graduate Assistant/Webmaster ().