Taxable Property Value Survey Plan

The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). The Governments Division has initiated a program of research and testing to examine conceptually sound and cost-effective means for collecting data on taxable property in the United States. Such data will include property assessment and sales data for all jurisdictions in the U.S., and will allow Governments Division to research the components necessary for conducting a Taxable Property Value Survey, a program discontinued in 1992. This research is largely motivated by a 2007 report from the National Academy of Sciences, Committee on National Statistics recommending research into a Taxable Property Value product. Conversations with federal agency counterparts and representatives from government jurisdictions have supported such research, indicating that the provision of such information would be minimally burdensome.

The first phase of this program will study the availability and quality of data from various sources, and the feasibility of using data provided by third party vendors as an alternative to collecting data from jurisdictions via a survey. The outcome of this phase will determine not only to what extent third party vendor records can be used, but also what content would be needed for survey questionnaires to supplement third party vendor data. At a minimum, a questionnaire would be required to collect sales data from 12 “non-disclosure” states (that do not require disclosure of amounts for which properties are sold), as the quality of the third party vendor data for these states does not meet Census Bureau standards. If this first phase demonstrates that the data from third party vendors, beyond the 12 non-disclosure states, are inadequate for data collection in some states, questionnaires would be needed to collect property assessment and sales data for those states.

In the first phase of this research, we will collect property assessment and sales data for the purpose of evaluating the vendor-provided data. Assessment data will be collected from the tax rolls, which are data files containing yearly assessment rolls for a given taxing jurisdiction. Sales data will be collected from the deeds office within a taxing jurisdiction. These data will be collected for a sample of up to 500 taxing jurisdictions and deeds offices in the U.S. (which include municipality, township, county, and state agencies). The information collected in this phase will consist of assessed and realized sales values for all parcels in the taxing or deeds jurisdiction, and any other variables that exist for each parcel. The Governments Division will compare these data with data provided by the vendor, to evaluate the latter in terms of accuracy and consistency, as well as amount of detail available for variables of interest. Governments Division staff will analyze the structure and content of the records and their variability across jurisdictions. Results will be used to design a survey and questionnaire in the event that development of a Taxable Property Values survey is deemed appropriate. There will be no estimates made from these data as the study is designed only to provide information on contents of records to inform questionnaire design, and to assess the quality of the vendor data.

The sample will initially consist of about 300 units, split proportionally between the assessing offices and deeds offices. A sample of small, medium, and large deeds and assessing offices will give an idea of the adequacy of the vendor data. Nonparametric methods will be used to compare the records in each sampled unit. If there are concerns about a geographic area (e.g., a state) either because of the quality of the response(s) or nonresponse, further cases may be selected from that area and their data requested. Due to resource constraints, the number of units requested will be kept to a minimum. The maximum sample size will not exceed 500 units.

Governments Division will send a letter to the taxing jurisdictions and deeds offices asking that they provide a data file of parcel level assessment or sales data for calendar year 2009. The letter will encourage respondents to upload data electronically via a Census Bureau file transfer protocol (FTP) site, and will provide formatting guidance. The letter will also provide other options for data receipt, including mail and support for other media that may be more convenient to the respondent (including CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, paper, etc.). Drafts of the letters to be mailed to assessing and deeds offices requesting their data are enclosed.

Governments Division staff will conduct nonresponse follow-up by telephone. Respondents will be informed that participation is voluntary and that the information they provide is confidential and will be seen only by employees involved in the research project. We will not be providing monetary incentives to participants in the study.

We estimate that it will take respondents up to one hour to retrieve the requested data, reformat them, and upload them via the FTP site. The maximum estimated burden is 500 hours (500 respondents X 1 hour).

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and statistical aspects of the design of this research is:

Brian Zamperini

Special Projects Staff, Governments Division

3H276B

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-7028

[email protected]