Tax Constraint and Fiscal Policy: After the Property Tax. Volume 2: Analytic Tools and Techniques

摘要

This volume documents the data and details the methods employed in a study of tax constraint and fiscal policy based on data from Boston. It presents the operational, analytic, and organizational aspects of fiscal policy analysis and tax base management. The first topics covered are information management, analysis of property sales data, and estimation of Boston's property tax base as of mid - 1978. The next chapter deals with two dynamic aspects of property values -- the Residential Value Index as a statistical tool for summarizing historical data on market values or predicting future trends. A special section of the report contains background papers developed in the course of the study. They concern Boston's recent fiscal history and propositions for statewide revenue reform including ''place of origin'' allocations of revenues from new or expanded taxes, an increase in the meals and retail sales tax rates, and a broadening of the sales tax base to include selected services. The concluding chapter summarizes the application of the tax capitalization model to the estimation of property taxes and values during the equalization process. Examples of major computer output are presented and interpreted. Charts, graphs and tabular data are provided. Appendices contain the texts of Massachusetts property tax classification laws.