Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Evaluation Of Vertical Equity In Residential Property Assessments In The Lake Oswego And West Linn Areas, James G. Strathman, Dirce Toulan

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This report presents a statistical evaluation of vertical equity in the pattern of residential property assessments in the Lake Oswego, West Linn and nearby unincorporated areas based on an application of the Paglin-Fogarty method to a sample of recent sales. A vertically regressive pattern of inequity in assessments, which is characterized by systemmatic under-assessment of higher-valued properties and overassessment of lower-valued properties, was found. Based on the entire sample, it was estimated that a typical $75,000 property was overassessed by about $4,700, and a typical $175,000 property was underassessed by $8,800.