Public Administration Commons^™

Evaluating Spatial Model Accuracy In Mass Real Estate Appraisal: A Comparison Of Geographically Weighted Regression And The Spatial Lag Model, Paul E. Bidanset, John R. Lombard

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Geographically weighted regression (GWR) has been shown to greatly increase the performance of ordinary least squares-based appraisal models, specifically regarding industry standard measurements of equity, namely the price-related differential and the coefficient of dispersion (COD; Borst and McCluskey, 2008; Lockwood and Rossini, 2011; McCluskey et al., 2013; Moore, 2009; Moore and Myers, 2010). Additional spatial regression models, such as spatial lag models (SLMs), have shown to improve multiple regression real estate models that suffer from spatial heterogeneity (Wilhelmsson, 2002). This research is performed using arms-length residential sales from 2010 to 2012 in Norfolk, Virginia, and compares the performance of GWR …

The Effect Of Kernel And Bandwidth Specification In Geographically Weighted Regression Models On The Accuracy And Uniformity Of Mass Real Estate Appraisal, Paul E. Bidanset, John R. Lombard

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

The article presents a study which examines the performance of kernel and bandwidth specification in geographically weighted regression (GWR) models in mass real estate appraisal. The kernels employed in the study are the bi-square kernel and the Gaussian kernel. Data from the sales of single-family homes in Norfolk, Virginia from 2010 to 2012 are highlighted.

Boston's Fiscal Future: Prognosis And Policy Options For 1984 To 1986, Joseph S. Slavet, Raymond G. Torto

John M. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies Publications

The finances of the City of Boston have been variously affected throughout its long history by regional and national economic cycles, by legal constraints and changes in the state-local tax system and by inter-municipal resource and expenditure disparities.

In more recent years, however, a series of tremors converged to propel Boston's seemingly chronic fiscal problem to the crisis stage. As inflation climbed to unprecedented double-digit levels, an overwhelming majority of the state's populace supported specific limits on property taxes, the primary source of municipal revenue. As a result, Boston was forced to reduce property tax levies by $144 million during …

The Massachusetts Fiscal System: Structure And Performance, Padraig O'Malley, Raymond G. Torto

Center for Studies in Policy and the Public Interest Publications

On November 4, 1980 the citizens of Massachusetts, by a vote of 59% to 41%, resoundingly endorsed a tax reduction plan known as Proposition 2 1/2. All communities in the Commonwealth were faced with an immediate reduction in their local revenues due to the immediate cut in the excise tax that Proposition 2 1/2 called for, and up to 130 communities will have to implement a 15% reduction in their tax levies for FY 1982.

Already there are protestations from many local officials that they cannot make the required tax cuts without severely reducing the level of local services. The …