This article uses sales data and the entire property assessment roll to calculate the
ratio of assessed value to market value for all taxed real estate in San Francisco in
1984. The object is to examine the distribution of effective rates of property taxation
under the assessment system introduced in California in 1978 by voter initiative
(Proposition 13). The estimated aggregate assessment ratio for the city is .55.
Assessment ratios differ signifzcantly among and within property types, with average
business and private homeowners paying lower rates than owners of multiple-unit
dwellings. Within property classes, assessment ratios (and consequently, effective
rates of property taxation) are shown to be inversely related to property values.
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