Understanding the terminology and concepts that drive effective municipal economic development.
Essential terms for understanding our approach to municipal asset management and economic development.
A portion delineated by legal boundaries, serving as a distinct piece of real estate with a unique identification number. It is often considered a single unit for ownership, management, and taxation purposes, and can vary in size and shape. Essentially, a parcel is a fundamental unit of land that holds significant importance in ownership and transactions.
Qualities, characteristics, or features of a Parcel of Land. These identifiers can be positive or negative.
Waterfront for recreation, close proximity to highway, railroad, or downtown center. These encourage use and increase value.
Lack of accessibility, close proximity to waste processing facility or hazard. These discourage use and detract from value.
A Parcel of Land that is producing Contribution Value at its highest expected amount. A Parcel of Land operating at its highest potential.
This is the goal for every parcel—to contribute relative to its capacity based on its attributes and location.
The value for which a Parcel of Land can be sold on a given market. This reflects the supply and demand dynamics between buyers and sellers, as well as the parcel's attributes, accessibility, and usability.
The level of benefits or resources generated by a parcel. These can be direct and financial, or indirect and non-financial.
Measurable financial benefits: real estate tax, personal property tax on business assets, sales tax on goods and services, income tax from employment.
Non-financial, unmeasurable benefits: public gardens, walking paths, information centers, community gathering spaces.
Represents the desirable benefits or resources foregone by not managing Parcel Attributes to achieve Optimal Parcel Performance. The cost a municipality pays for not bringing a Parcel of Land to its highest potential.
A Parcel of Land with Parcel Attributes that have an outsized impact on the Parcel Market Values of nearby properties or an entire neighborhood or town. These properties significantly influence the economic health of surrounding areas.
A Parcel or Parcels of Land that, due to their Parcel Attributes, demand an increased emotional response relative to other Parcels during the same experience. This allows for the memory or recall of the experience to produce a stronger image relative to memory or recall of other nearby or neighboring properties.
As memories of experiences are recalled, they reinforce both positive and negative bias. Critical Lots create a vibe.
A deficit imposed on the economic system which requires the remaining contributors to carry forward the cost of the system with a negative net Parcel Contribution.
Example: A factory that has gone bankrupt, leaving the Parcel of Land in a status that contributes negatively to the municipality.
The scale measuring the size of the economic weight includes the loss of Parcel Market Value for the property itself and nearby properties which may also experience a decline in value. Any Parcel Opportunity Cost is also included.
Benefits enjoyed by a third party as a result of an economic transaction. For example, if your neighbor keeps their property well-maintained, it may have a positive impact on your property value, even though you did not contribute to the maintenance cost.
Costs borne by a third party as a result of an economic transaction. For example, if a factory pollutes the air in a nearby community, residents may suffer health problems, even though they did not benefit from the factory's production.
Let's discuss how these principles can help your municipality identify opportunities and create sustainable economic growth.