How we tax property, with Lars Doucet

In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (patio11) and Lars Doucet, the author of Land is a Big Deal, discuss how cities determine your property's value and collect taxes. They explore how assessment offices juggle political pressures, statistical models, and technological tools while trying to maintain equity across millions of properties. They also cover why assessment offices are separate from tax collectors, how property value protests actually work, and why your neighbor's house might be assessed differently than yours.

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Full transcript available here: www.complexsystemspodcast.com/property-assessment-lars-doucet/

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Sponsors: GiveWell | Check

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Links:

Lars’ book: https://www.landisabigdeal.com/

Lars’ blog: https://www.fortressofdoors.com/ 

Bits about Money: https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/ 

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Twitter

@larsiusprime

@patio11

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Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction
(00:23) How property taxes work (Texas Example)
(02:45) The political art of avoiding tax rate blame
(05:53) Sources of real estate data
(08:08) Historical property assessment
(11:04) Statutory guidance vs. Actual practice on market value assessment
(14:25) Tax rate strategy and sandbagging
(15:17) Assessed value vs market value
(16:16) Assessment caps and Prop 13 
(18:22) Sponsor: GiveWell | Check
(20:27) Data collection in the field
(22:54) Data collection methods
(25:08) Property valuation: Beyond location and correlative factors
(26:52) Depreciation of buildings
(27:37) Orthodox view of depreciation
(30:53) Real estate cultural differences
(33:59) Urban redevelopment and land value
(36:59) Small business realities and perceptions
(46:19) Property tax protests
(50:45) Predictive protests
(52:19) Accuracy vs equity testing
(58:50) Cook county assessor's office
(1:01:11) Lars's background
(1:05:38) What is GIS?
(1:09:52) Wrap