Assessment of the relationship between community services and taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax in Lagos metropolis

Abstract

Property tax which is considered a suitable local source of revenue is facing serious threats as a result of the present state of Nigeria community services. This study therefore assessed the condition of community services in Lagos metropolis with the view to determining taxpayers’ willingness to pay (WTP) residential property tax. Primary data was used for the study. The data were sourced through the use of questionnaire administered to the users of the residential properties that have been assessed for rating purposes in the study area. 4026, questionnaires were administered to Residential property owners. While 2181(54.17%), were returned and analysed. The community service condition index (CSI), an index number that indicates the current condition of the services measured in relation to its ideal ‘Perfect’ condition, adopted from Australian Association of Higher Education facilities officers (2010) was used to rate the community service condition in the study area. The result revealed that there is direct relationship between improvement in the condition of community services and taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax. The study concludes that Lagos state government has the potential to generate the largest share of its revenue from property tax, if judiciously spend the revenue for the provision and upgrading of the existing community services in the study area. The study therefore recommends that Lagos state government should declare state of emergency in the provision of community services, this will improve rental value of residential properties in the area, thus increases taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax.