Design and implementation of a Web-based land evaluation system and its application to land value tax assessment using .Net technology

There is today a high and worldwide demand for information on the suitability and productivity of land for a wide range of land uses. The multi-disciplinary approach used in this study combines the state-of-the-art IT technology with an elaborated land evaluation methodology and results in a Web-based land evaluation system (WLES). The WLES is designed in such a way that the system operates either as a Web application or as a Web service. Implemented on top of the .NET platform, the WLES has a loosely coupled multi-tier structure which seamlessly integrates the domain knowledge of land evaluation and the spatial database. The Web service feature makes the WLES suitable to act as a building block of a larger system such as that of land taxation. Since long land and property taxation are a central theme for economists and agronomists. Land value tax (LVT) has been proposed to replace all existing taxes. LVT is levied as a percentage of the assessed value of land, in accordance with its optimum use within a sustainable development planning. Soil, climate and water resources surveys contain a wealth of information and therefore the land evaluation methodology at large can contribute to better land-use decisions and make tax assessment procedures more objective and equitable. The WLES is applied to turn the proven methodologies of land evaluation into a land value assessment tool and to provide a sounder base for land taxation