Vertical Equity in the Taxation of Single Family Homes

Vertical equity in ad valorem real property taxation is the concept that all properties within a taxing jurisdiction are assessed in equal proportion to their fair market value. This study examines the assessment of single family homes in Bellingham, Washington, utilizing a database of 1,118 home sales in the southern half of Bellingham that sold during the time period of January, 1990 through June, 1994. The results of several empirical tests suggest the presence of regressive vertical inequity. It appears that higher market value homes are assessed at a lower proportion of their value (sales price) than less expensive homes. These results suggest that property taxation at the local level magnifies the regessivity of Washington State's already highly regressive state tax system. Why does this apparent regressive vertical inequity exist? The authors offer several possibilities including the propensity of wealthy homeowners to challenge property tax assessments, the difficulty of valuing the amenities inside an upper-end home, the heterogeneity of the upper-end home market coupled with a small number of transactions, and the lack of ample staff and other resources at the County Assessor's office.

An Examination of Vertical Equity Over Two Reassessment Cycles

This article examines vertical equity in the assessment of single-family homes over two assessment cycles in Bellingham, Washington. The two assessment periods, which are four years apart, followed two differing property appreciation periods. The 1992 reassessment followed an explosion in home values, while the 1996 reassessment came after more moderate price appreciation. The assessed value/ market value ratio is the basic tool of this study with actual sales prices assumed to be market value. Utilizing a database of 721 home sales from January, 1990 to December, 1992, this study’s empirical analysis suggests regressive vertical inequity in 1992. This situation appears to have changed in 1996. Results from a second database consisting of 835 home sales from January, 1994 through December, 1996, suggest a substantial reduction in vertical inequity. Overall, it appears that the County Assessor’s office addressed the previous problem with positive results for the average property taxpayer of Whatcom County.

Pattern formation in reaction diffusion models with spatially inhomogeneous diffusion coefficients

Reaction-diffusion models for biological pattern formation have been studied extensively in a variety of embryonic and ecological contexts. However, despite experimental evidence pointing to the existence of spatial inhomogeneities in various biological systems, most models have only been considered in a spatially homogeneous environment. The authors consider a two-chemical reaction-diffusion mechanism in one space dimension in which one of the diffusion coefficients depends explicitly on the spatial variable. The model is analysed in the case of a step function diffusion coefficient and the insight gained for this special case is used to discuss pattern generation for smoothly varying diffusion coefficients. The results show that spatial inhomogeneity may be an important biological pattern regulator, and possible applications of the model to chondrogenesis in the vertebrate limb are suggested

Unravelling the Turing bifurcation using spatially varying diffusion coefficients

The Turing bifurcation is the basic bifurcation generating spatial pattern, and lies at the heart of almost all mathematical models for patterning in biology and chemistry. In this paper the authors determine the structure of this bifurcation for two coupled reaction diffusion equations on a two-dimensional square spatial domain when the diffusion coefficients have a small explicit variation in space across the domain. In the case of homogeneous diffusivities, the Turing bifurcation is highly degenerate. Using a two variable perturbation method, the authors show that the small explicit spatial inhomogeneity splits the bifurcation into two separate primary and two separate secondary bifurcations, with all solution branches distinct. This splitting of the bifurcation is more effective than that given by making the domain slightly rectangular, and shows clearly the structure of the Turing bifurcation and the way in which the! var ious solution branches collapse together as the spatial variation is reduced. The authors determine the stability of the solution branches, which indicates that several new phenomena are introduced by the spatial variation, including stable subcritical striped patterns, and the possibility that stable stripes lose stability supercritically to give stable spotted patterns

Mechanisms of fragmentation of Al-W granular composites under dynamic loading

Numerical simulations of Aluminum (Al) and Tungsten (W) granular composite rings under various dynamic loading conditions caused by explosive loading were examined. Three competing mechanisms of fragmentation were observed: a continuum level mechanism generating large macrocracks described by the Grady-Kipp fragmentation mechanism, a mesoscale mechanism generating voids and microcracks near the initially unbonded Al/W interfaces due to tensile strains, and a mesoscale jetting due to the development of large velocity gradients between the W particles and adjacent Al. These mesoscale mechanisms can be used to tailor the size of the fragments by selecting an appropriate initial mesostructure for a given loading condition.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to AP

Comparison of 3-D viscous flow computations of Mach 5 inlet with experimental data

A time marching 3-D full Navier-Stokes code, called PARC3D, is validated for an experimental Mach 5 inlet configuration using the data obtained in the 10 x 10 ft supersonic wind tunnel at the NASA Lewis Research Center. For the first time, a solution is obtained for this configuration with the actual geometry, the tunnel conditions, and all the bleed zones modeled in the computation. Pitot pressure profiles and static pressures at various locations in the inlet are compared with the corresponding experimental data. The effect of bleed zones, located in different places on the inlet walls, in eliminating the low energy vortical flow generated from the 3-D shock-boundary layer interaction is simulated very well even though some approximations are used in applying the bleed boundary conditions and in the turbulence model. A further detailed study of the effect of individual bleed ports is needed to understand fully the actual mechanism of efficiently eliminating the vortical flow from the inlet. A better turbulence model would help to improve the accuracy even further in predicting the corner flow boundary layer profiles

The Influence of Canadian Investment on U.S. Residential Property Values

This study is an examination of the impact of foreign investors on an American residential real estate market. Point Roberts, Washington, a real estate market that is dominated by Canadians, is the focus of the analysis. Utilizing a ten-year database of home sales, the empirical analysis suggests that the Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange rate and market conditions in nearby Vancouver, British Columbia, strongly influence Point Roberts residential property price levels. A rising Canadian dollar seems to motivate increased demand for Point Roberts property by Canadian investors, for example. The sensitivity of real estate prices to exchange-rate changes appears to be a three-to-six-month lagged function. In general, it appears that a higher Canadian dollar will increase the Canadian demand for Point Roberts real estate which, in turn, leads to higher transaction prices. In addition, transaction prices in Point Roberts are slightly more volatile than are prices in the Vancouver market.

The Value of a Water View: Variability over 25 Years in a Coastal Housing Market

Given a relatively inelastic supply of locations with coastal water views, the price of a water view is likely to rise during housing market upturns and fall during downturns. Using 25 years of data and more than 20,000 home sales for Bellingham, Washington, this study uses the hedonic methodology to estimate water view premiums over different phases of the housing cycle. Views are differentiated both by scope and by distance from the water. Results show real dollar premiums associated with water views move with the housing cycle, rising when housing demand and overall market prices increase and falling when the overall price of housing declines. In addition, the relative value of a view fluctuates as well