by
JENNINGS WAYNE MOORE
September 2007
ABSTRACT
Empirical tax assessment data is used in the study to examine the relationship between the structural change in Florida property tax administration that limited annual assessment increases and property tax equity during the 1995 through 2004 study period. The source of the empirical data for the study is the State of Florida’s official computer archives of property tax records that followed implementation of a constitutional amendment nicknamed Save Our Homes. The accuracy of assessors’ performance in estimating market values has been studied in much of the tax equity literature (Bowman & Mikesell, 1978; Case, 1978; Sunderman, Birch & Hamilton, 1990; Sirmans, Diskin & Friday, 1995; Goolsby, 1997; Allen & Dare, 2002; Cornia & Slade, 2005). However, during the past 25 years various tax and expenditure limitations have been enacted by referenda or legislative action in many states that removed the direct association between market value and tax liability. Assessment accuracy is no longer synonymous with property tax equity and a new approach to equity measurement is needed. Thus, the study is focused on net assessed value, a correlate of effective tax liability that includes all administrative value adjustments, as a potentially improved gauge of tax equity. The study is used to develop new models for testing equity. A simulated experimental methodology is employed that satisfies the requirements of a between-subjects completely randomized factorial design (Keppel, 1991) to address the research questions. The findings are expected to reveal if statistically significant evidence exists at the p = .01 level that horizontal and vertical equity deteriorated between 1995 and 2004 for the Save Our Homes qualified properties in Florida.