I was an assessor with the City of Alexandria for 10 years. I am now a retired real estate appraiser. This proposed law has a huge potential for confusing taxpayer. The value of the improvements is much less important than the land value and the total value of a property. The value of the improvements is a hypothetical number. "Improvements" do not sell by themselves. Vacant land sells and improved broperties (land and buildings) sell. The value of the improvements should be the difference between the the value of the land the total value. Will assessors pay closer attention to the highest and best use of each property if this law is implemented? Will it be applied to all properties (residential, commercial, and industrial) if a jurisdiction chooses to implement it? There will be endless arguments about how much of a property's total value should be allocated to the land as opposed to the improvements. Owners of more valuable properties will have "tax reps" and attorneys to argue their cases. Single family homeowners will not. If this proposed law is to be implemented properly, the assessor will need additional staff. It's a bad idea to implement policy through tax rates.