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The article presents a case study which examined the property taxation in Pennsylvania and the International Association of Assessing Officers' (IAAO) Standard on Property Tax Policy, Standard on Mass Appraisal of Real Property and Standard on Oversight Agency Responsibilities. Topics include the state's decentralized and complex property tax system and the endorsement by state courts including the Supreme Court of the IAAO standards.

The conflicts between owners of surface and subsurface mineral rights as well as the conflicts among subsurface rights owners are continuing issues. Mineral rights usually are severed from surface rights, creating conflicting real property rights: those to the surface and those to the subsurface. The owners of the subsurface mineral rights have the legal right to extract the minerals even if extraction involves the use of the surface owner's land. Different owners of subsurface mineral rights in the same reservoir also are often in conflict regarding the right to extract the mineral in the common pool. This paper investigates the sources of these conflicts, the remedies in both common and statutory law, and how these remedies impact and define property rights in oil and natural gas development. Comment is provided on whether these conflicts could have been avoided or reduced if the United States had followed a market-oriented philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the growth of wind power generation in the United States. As wind power has spread, states have used different methods for valuing wind farms for property taxation. Generation of electricity by wind takes two forms: in utility-grade generation, large turbines, usually in farms, are designed to produce electricity for the grid, and in distributed generation, smaller units are not connected to the grid but are designed to generate power for a business, manufacturing complex, agriculture, or local networks. Only utility-grade generation is considered here. The valuation methods used in the principal wind states are described. Also, a more detailed analysis of alternative methods of valuation is presented. Finally, specific issues for assessors to consider in valuing wind farms are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]