In this project students will work to make connections between the valuation of properties and the tax basis or revenue for communities.

Group Work

Working in small groups, students will:

• select a community and identify all the critical information they need;
• graph on the coordinate plane, property sale prices and living area square footage to determine if there is the relationship between the two variables that would assist in determining future property sale prices;
• plot valuations and associated tax bill and determine if there is a function that approximates the relationships;
• compare the estimated functions.
  
   

Materials Needed

Each student will need copies of the Valuation Worksheet and the Taxes Worksheet. There are two sets of worksheets, one for each community. After a group selects a community, provide students with copies of the appropriate worksheets. Students should complete the Valuation Worksheet first. Students will access the community overviews and the data about the properties in their community online.

 

Final Report

Individually, students will:

• define meaning for the slope (m in the y=mx + b) for each of the functions;
• identify the tax of the properties based on the function developed;
• create a formula for one or two features that add to the valuation; and
• write a report to the city council explaining the functions for determining the valuation of commercial and residential properties.
   

Students should have access to their group worksheets when they complete the individual work. All information required for the final report is accessible online.