Residential Properties Taken Under Eminent Domain: Do Government Appraisers Track Market Values?

Local governments often use powers of eminent domain to take residential properties for public use. In such cases the local government will use their appraisers (in-house or independent) to calculate an offer on the property. If the goal of the government is to avoid costly (use of administrative resources) litigation it may have an incentive to over-appraise the residential properties. Such over-valuation would transfer the cost to taxpayers. We compare the appraised value of sixty properties taken through eminent domain in Clark County, Nevada to comparable properties sold in free market transactions. We find evidence of over-appraisal of the properties taken by eminent domain. By valuing individual property characteristics differently from the market, the government over-appraised properties by approximately seventeen percent. We also provide evidence that the government may use simple rules for appraising the properties, whereas the market employs more complex rules.

Economic Trends and Forecasts for Nevada

With the exception of some difficulties following the events of September 11, 2001 , the economy of the state of Nevada has been doing very well since the mid-1980’s. Employment has increased dramatically, outpacing job growth anywhere else in the country. This has drawn workers to Nevada, leading to record in-migration, especially recently. With robust growth in both employment and population, spending as measured by GSP is healthy. The economic forecast for Nevada predicts continued positive growth in the short run, after which growth will decline to a more normal rate

The Impact of a water-imposed interruption of growth in the Las Vegas region

This study is prompted by the expectation that water supplies for the Las Vegas Valley, both those used currently and those additional quantities available from existing sources, cannot sustain significant further economic growth of the region beyond the year 2006. There are five parts to this study. Part I uses a regional econometric (REMI) model to project the growth of the Las Vegas region to natural maturity, essentially unconstrained by an overriding water shortage. Part II is a reinforcing cross-section analysis of metropolitan areas in the United States to learn the most common natural growth patterns and those that have produced a good quality of life with a minimum of major local disturbances. This analysis gives attention to employment, population, income, and other key economic and social indicators. We give special attention to events in cities that are nearer to or at levels of maturity still many years away for Las Vegas. Part III of this study looks at the performance of sectors of the Las Vegas economy between 1970 and 1989. In particular, we identify those sectors of the Las Vegas economy that are sensitive to variations in growth, particularly during the 1979 to 1983 recession period. Part IV examines the impact of an unrelieved water shortage after 2006 on the Las Vegas socioeconomic future, giving special attention to the fraction of employment that depends on historically high growth rates to predict the impact of rapid decline of that employment. In Part IV, we employ the depth and power of the REMI model to portray the consequences for Las Vegas of a sharp drop in growth after 2006. In this part, we simulate a sixty percent reduction in construction employment, based on the experience of other cities investigated in Part II. We trace this disruption of growth through reduced employment, population, output, and income. We measure the effect of the water shortage by comparing the values of economic variables with a water shortage with a control forecast produced under the assumption of adequate water supplies. Part IV also includes a partial analysis of a Las Vegas water shortage on rural Nevada and on the state of Nevada as a whole. Part V investigates the impact on rural areas of construction and operation of a system bringing water from outlying areas to the Las Vegas region. We are aware that final planning for such a system is not yet completed. We have used a reasonable set of expenditures, locations, and periods that can be expected to occur. These simulations provide a plausible estimate of the effects of both the construction and operation of a water-delivery system on employment and income in those rural areas. As more definite information emerges, appropriate changes can readily be made and new analysis of impacts can be quickly provided

Zds2p Regulates Swe1p-dependent Polarized Cell Growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae via a Novel Cdc55p Interaction Domain

A C-terminal region in Zds2p (ZH4) is required for regulation of Swe1p-dependent polarized cell growth and this region is necessary and sufficient for interaction with protein phosphatase 2A regulatory subunit, Cdc55p. Our results indicate that the Zds proteins regulate the Swe1p-dependent G2/M checkpoint in a CDC55-dependent manner

Symbolic Product Attributes And Emulatory Consumption: The Case Of Rodeo Fan Attendance And The Wearing Of Western Clothing

Clothing is an ideal product for the study of emulatory consumption because it is visible, accessible, and relatively inexpensive. This study addresses the relationship between the purchase and usage of symbolic products (western clothing) and involvement with reference groups (rodeo society). Data presented are from a survey which was distributed to 1,559 rodeo fans who attended the 1991 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada

The Nature Of Demand For Companion Pet Health Care

More than 49 percent of American households own companion animals and spend nearly five billion dollars annually for veterinary care. This paper examines the demand for cat and dog health care. The estimated price and income elasticities for overall demand are -0.12 and +0.80, respectively. However, cat owners show more sensitivity to both price and income than do dog owners. In addition, these sensitivities vary with the location and the practice composition of veterinarian firms