Understanding the Land Curve Table and Land Values
Land – A
portion of the earth’s surface, together with the earth below it,
the space above it, and all things annexed thereto by nature or by
man.
This document
should help to explain the how’s and why’s of Land Valuation
Methodology, in the simplest of terms.
In order for land to have value, it must have utility.
For the purposes of this document, utility is the ability of
a parcel to support an improvement (a dwelling).
If only one house can be constructed on a 12,000 square foot
parcel and only one house can be constructed on a 1 acre parcel due
to the lack of frontage, then they have essentially the same utility
– the construction of one house.
As you will see, it would not be equitable to assess each of
these two parcels with the same base rate.
Although the 1 acre lot is nearly 4 times the area of the
12,000 sq. ft. lot, the additional land has very little utility (1
Acre = 43,560 sq. ft).
Without the use of the Land Curve an equitable value could not exist
for the range of lot sizes in a typical community.
If a lot is to
be considered “buildable” or has improvements already in place, the
smaller the lot, the higher the square foot value.
This concept can be difficult to understand without the use
of examples. These
examples are actual parcels as assessed for Fiscal Year 2006.
The following
grid describes land located in the residential zone (R1) with a
minimum 12,000 square foot building lot.
All parcels examined are legal lots, 3 non-conforming and 7
conforming. The base
rate for a minimum building lot under current zoning is $6.62 per
foot, all calculations are adjusted from this point.
MBLU
|
Street |
Square Feet |
Sq. Foot
Price |
Total Value
with Curve |
Base
Rate |
Total Value
W/O Curve |
Difference |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
98 / 1205 |
Acre Ct |
3,325 |
$21.42 |
$71,222 |
$6.62
|
$22,012 |
{$49,210} |
|
25 / 197 |
Allen St |
6,289 |
$11.82 |
$74,336 |
$6.62
|
$41,633 |
{$32,703} |
|
36 / 1467 |
Auburn St |
9,024 |
$8.38 |
$75,621 |
$6.62
|
$59,739 |
{$15,882} |
|
120 / 109 |
Berlin St |
12,080 |
$6.58 |
$79,486 |
$6.62
|
$79,970 |
$484 |
|
122 / 3221 |
Chace St |
12,287 |
$6.49 |
$79,743 |
$6.62
|
$81,340 |
$1,597 |
|
124 / 1754 |
Chace St |
12,350 |
$6.46 |
$79,781 |
$6.62
|
$81,757 |
$1,976 |
|
31 / 839 |
Cedar St |
12,707 |
$6.30 |
$80,054 |
$6.62
|
$84,120 |
$4,066 |
|
8 / 570 |
Chestnut St |
23,560 |
$3.79 |
$89,292 |
$6.62
|
$155,967 |
$66,675 |
|
108 / 1398 |
Dewey St |
32,937 |
$2.75 |
$90,577 |
$6.62
|
$218,043 |
$127,466 |
|
124 / 1334 |
Chace St |
43,456 |
$2.12 |
$92,347 |
$6.62
|
$288,367 |
$196,020 |
The actual Land Curve Table for Clinton comprises over 180 pages of data for the residential parcels alone. This information is meant to present the concepts that are used in all Massachusetts communities. There are numerous influence factors to consider when valuing land, these are some of them: neighborhoods or site indices, topography and shape, public or private road frontage, waterfront, views, water and sewer services, economic influences from external sources, right of ways, covenants, wetland, insufficient frontage, landlocked, etc. The Board of Assessors considers all of these factors when valuing the land in the Town of Clinton.
Further reading
on the complexities of land valuation can be found in The
Homevoter Hypothesis by W. A. Fischel