Land Development and Current Use Assessment: A Theoretical Note

This paper jointly models a landowner's decision to develop a parcel and the option to enroll that parcel in a current use assessment program. The analytical results highlight different factors that influence the effectiveness of a current use program in delaying development. The results also underscore the difficulty a local government might have in influencing the behavior of the landowner. Except for altering eligibility rules, a local government employing current use assessment has but two policy tools: a penalty for development and the property tax rate.