<P> This dissertation provides an investigation into the confluence of three
basic themes; geography, land values, and municipal taxation. This research
examines the role of geography as it applies to addressing the inherent structural
problems of the municipal property tax system, which result in inequities in
municipal tax burdens. These structural problems are caused, in part, because
traditional specifications of mass appraisal models are unable to sufficiently
incorporate the impact of geography and because the property tax system is based
more heavily on the value of capital improvements, such as buildings, than the
value of land. Convincing evidence suggests a municipal taxation system based
more heavily on the value of land could help mitigate many negative
consequences of the property tax; thus, this research examines a spatial paradigm
for the estimation of urban land values in order to study the short-run implications
of transitioning to a land value tax system. </p> <P> After reviewing geography's contribution to the professional practice of
real estate appraisal, this dissertation describes a spatial decision support system
(SDSS) that was used to extract and validate sales of vacant land from the
population of real estate transactions that occurred in Hamilton, Ontario between
1995 and 2004. Vacant land transaction prices were used to explore the spatial
dynamics of land price appreciation and depreciation rates, investigate the
potential for spatial models to improve the accuracy and fairness of mass
appraisal, and to simulate the spatial distribution of shifting tax liabilities for
residential land uses under the property tax and land value tax systems in order to
examine their relationship to area-based deprivation indices. Results suggest there
remains much potential for geography to make significant contributions to
assessment practice, municipal taxation, and urban planning. Furthermore, there is
much potential for land value taxation to contribute to equitable and sustainable
cities. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/19203 |
| Date | 10 1900 |
| Creators | Spinney, Jamie |
| Contributors | Kanaroglou, Pavlos, Geography and Earth Sciences |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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