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Property Tax Equity: A Study Of Bemidji, Minnesota, L. E. Johnson, Robert D. Ley

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

The paper seeks to evaluate the equity of property tax assessments in a rural northern Minnesota area. Criteria of both vertical and horizontal equity were examined in terms of the ability to pay and benefits measures of the intra-decile relationships. In addition, other variables affecting intra-decile horizontal equity such as age and lakeshore location were considered. The data upon which the results were based were drawn from random sampling of 1000 households in the R-31 school district at Bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota. The sample represented 20 percent of all such households. A total of 216 households responded to a questionnaire …