Determinants of the property assessment uniformity

Abstract

As Lithuania ponders the adoption of the universal property tax on real estate, the advantages and disadvantages of property taxation are discussed in media and scholarly articles. At the heart of the property tax, there is the need for assessment, the determination of property value for taxation purposes. The importance of assessment for the equitable distribution of the total tax burden does not receive enough emphasis in research. This article attempts to fill in this gap by testing an empirical model based on the data from the USA, a country, where property taxation has a long history. The model tests what factors are contributing to the variation of the coefficient of dispersion (COD), an internationally recognized measure of assessment uniformity. The results of the analysis indicate that the economic structure and housing market conditions are the most important determinants of the property assessment uniformity, while variables related to the location of property and the level of taxation do not have a significant impact on assessment uniformity.