Last visit was: 19 Jul 2025, 23:40 It is currently 19 Jul 2025, 23:40
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
venmic
Joined: 02 Nov 2009
Last visit: 16 Jul 2018
Posts: 74
Own Kudos:
707
 [109]
Given Kudos: 180
Posts: 74
Kudos: 707
 [109]
8
Kudos
Add Kudos
101
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
mikemcgarry
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Last visit: 06 Aug 2018
Posts: 4,480
Own Kudos:
30,138
 [24]
Given Kudos: 130
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,480
Kudos: 30,138
 [24]
13
Kudos
Add Kudos
11
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
piyatiwari
Joined: 28 Jun 2009
Last visit: 15 Jun 2021
Posts: 313
Own Kudos:
438
 [12]
Given Kudos: 46
Location: United States (MA)
Posts: 313
Kudos: 438
 [12]
9
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
General Discussion
avatar
jeevagmat
Joined: 08 Feb 2011
Last visit: 11 Jun 2015
Posts: 1
Own Kudos:
4
 [4]
Posts: 1
Kudos: 4
 [4]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
venmic
Mike - Can you please explain the key to solving percentage problems

The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four
years. This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is
based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined. Moreover, the percentage
of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this
period. The information above most strongly supports which of the following?
A. Money collected from property taxes provided most of Altonville’s revenue during the past
four years.
B. The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes did
not change over the past four years.
C. Altonville officials had proposed raising property tax rates during the past four years but
never did so because of strong opposition from property owners.
D. The total amount of revenue that Altonville has collected from property taxes has declined
over the past four years.
E. During the past four years, Altonville officials also did not increase tax rates on other
sources of revenue such as retail sales or business profits.


I would go with D as well... clearly A, C and E are ruled out... so left with B and D... B says "The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes did not change over the past four years." but the question says 'percentage
of assessed value'
..... so D has to be the answer
avatar
ravstime
Joined: 06 Jul 2012
Last visit: 15 Jun 2014
Posts: 18
Own Kudos:
88
 [1]
Given Kudos: 36
Posts: 18
Kudos: 88
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Ans shud be D.

What is OA?
TMV of RE is decreasing ---> decrease in Prop tax.
%age of Prop Tax did not change implies TMV must be decreasing.

What is OA?

Thanks
User avatar
metallicafan
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 04 Oct 2009
Last visit: 26 Aug 2020
Posts: 760
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 109
Status:2000 posts! I don't know whether I should feel great or sad about it! LOL
Location: Peru
Concentration: Finance, SMEs, Developing countries, Public sector and non profit organizations
Schools:Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT & HKS (Government)
GPA: 4.0
WE 1: Economic research
WE 2: Banking
WE 3: Government: Foreign Trade and SMEs
Posts: 760
Kudos: 4,301
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
+1 D

If the taxable amount has declined and the percentage to calculate the taxes has not changed, the revenue generated by this tax has declined.
avatar
robertnunzia
Joined: 26 Feb 2013
Last visit: 26 Feb 2013
Posts: 1
Posts: 1
Kudos: 0
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
From my point of view the answer should be E but i am not sure. Hope you get the correct one.
User avatar
mikemcgarry
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Last visit: 06 Aug 2018
Posts: 4,480
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 130
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,480
Kudos: 30,138
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
robertnunzia
From my point of view the answer should be E but i am not sure. Hope you get the correct one.
Dear Robert,
Do you understand why (D) is the OA? Let me know if you have any questions about my post above.

Mike :-)
User avatar
KarishmaB
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Last visit: 19 Jul 2025
Posts: 16,115
Own Kudos:
74,414
 [3]
Given Kudos: 475
Location: Pune, India
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 16,115
Kudos: 74,414
 [3]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
robertnunzia
From my point of view the answer should be E but i am not sure. Hope you get the correct one.

Actually, (E) is out of scope. Just because the property tax rate was not increased, we cannot say that other tax rates were not increased either. We cannot colcude about any other rates from the given argument.

Revenue from property tax = Tax rate * Total market value of property.

If total market values goes down (given in the argument) but tax rate doesn't change (also given in the argument), revenue from property tax will go down.

If tax rate = 10%

Total market value = $1000
Revenue from property tax = 10/100 * 1000 = 100

If total market value goes down to 800,
Revenue from property tax = 10/100 * 800 = 80

Answer (D)
User avatar
joshnsit
Joined: 29 Oct 2008
Last visit: 19 Oct 2017
Posts: 238
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 34
Location: United States
Concentration: Marketing, Technology
Posts: 238
Kudos: 1,361
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
mikemcgarry
venmic
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years. This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined. Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period. The information above most strongly supports which of the following?
A. Money collected from property taxes provided most of Altonville’s revenue during the past four years.
B. The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes did not change over the past four years.
C. Altonville officials had proposed raising property tax rates during the past four years but never did so because of strong opposition from property owners.
D. The total amount of revenue that Altonville has collected from property taxes has declined over the past four years.
E. During the past four years, Altonville officials also did not increase tax rates on other sources of revenue such as retail sales or business profits.
Dear Venmic

I don't know that there's a "key" to solving percent problems. Of course ....

percent = (Part)/(Whole)* 100

... so in any CR question that discusses them, the direction of change of the percent (increase or decrease) does not necessarily have to be the same as the direction of change of the "Part", so long as the "Whole" also changes. It just a matter of keeping straight, for any particular assertion --- are they talking about the "percent", the "Part", or the "Whole"? --- because information given could be about any of those three.

Let's look at this particular argument.
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years.
That's the "whole" from which real estate tax is assessed.
percent = (Part)/(Whole)* 100
(percent of property tax) = (total $ amount of property taxes)/(total market value of real estate)*100
This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined.
A bit redundant --- this sentence just points out that this same "whole" --- the "total market value of real estate" ---- is, of course, the basis of real estate tax. Property tax is based on property!
Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period.
OK, now we know --- "percent" stayed the same. So, sentence #1 told us "Whole" declined", and here we also know that "percent" stays the same --- this ineluctably means: "Part" must have also decreased. That's the only way the "Whole" could decrease while the "percent" stays the same. That "Part" would be the actual monetary amount of the property tax --- that must decrease. This is exactly what the correct answer D says.

Does this make sense?

Mike :-)
I was confused between C and D & picked C :cry:
C does support the last statement of the argument. Is there any stated reason why it is not considered for the answer choice? Thanks
User avatar
KarishmaB
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Last visit: 19 Jul 2025
Posts: 16,115
Own Kudos:
74,414
 [3]
Given Kudos: 475
Location: Pune, India
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 16,115
Kudos: 74,414
 [3]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The reason (C) is not correct is this:

This is an inference question. You are looking for an option which you can conclude from the argument. The argument does not mention the Altonville officials at all. We do not know what they had proposed. The argument only talks about the market value, assessed value and actual tax percentage. It doesn't talk about the officials. Hence, there is no way we can conclude (C) from the given argument. Note that in inference questions, the correct option should give no new information. Option (C) is giving new information and is not the answer.
User avatar
mikemcgarry
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Last visit: 06 Aug 2018
Posts: 4,480
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 130
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,480
Kudos: 30,138
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
joshnsit
I was confused between C and D & picked C :cry:
C does support the last statement of the argument. Is there any stated reason why it is not considered for the answer choice? Thanks
Dear joshnsit,
I see the brilliant Karishma already gave you a very good answer to this question. I will just add that you may find this blog article helpful:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-criti ... inference/
Mike :-)
User avatar
Raihanuddin
Joined: 11 Sep 2013
Last visit: 29 Aug 2021
Posts: 90
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 381
Concentration: Finance, Finance
Posts: 90
Kudos: 646
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years. This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined. The percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city, however, did not change from year to year during this period.
The information above most strongly supports which of the following?
A. The percentage of Altonville’s yearly revenue that comes from money collected in property taxes did not change over the past four years.
B. The percentage of Altonville’s yearly revenue that comes from money collected in property taxes has declined steadily over the past four years.
C. The amount of revenue that Altonville collected from property taxes was lower last year than it was four years ago.
D. During the past four years, Altonville officials increased tax rates on other sources of revenue such as retail sales and business profits.
E. Altonville will soon require property owners to pay a higher percentage of the assessed value of their property as property tax.

Please explain why B is incorrect. I am confused between B and C and If you have time I will be happy if you explain all options I would like to get response from GMATGuruNY(The Princeton Review Teacher). I like his explanation
User avatar
LoneSurvivor
Joined: 23 Nov 2016
Last visit: 18 Jul 2021
Posts: 305
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 156
GMAT 1: 690 Q50 V33
Products:
GMAT 1: 690 Q50 V33
Posts: 305
Kudos: 746
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
B is the devil...Very close almost got caught ..
User avatar
gaurav2m
Joined: 15 Apr 2018
Last visit: 22 Mar 2021
Posts: 62
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 382
Location: India
Schools: NUS '20
Schools: NUS '20
Posts: 62
Kudos: 39
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
mikemcgarry
venmic
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years. This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined. Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period. The information above most strongly supports which of the following?
A. Money collected from property taxes provided most of Altonville’s revenue during the past four years.
B. The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes did not change over the past four years.
C. Altonville officials had proposed raising property tax rates during the past four years but never did so because of strong opposition from property owners.
D. The total amount of revenue that Altonville has collected from property taxes has declined over the past four years.
E. During the past four years, Altonville officials also did not increase tax rates on other sources of revenue such as retail sales or business profits.
Dear Venmic

I don't know that there's a "key" to solving percent problems. Of course ....

percent = (Part)/(Whole)* 100

... so in any CR question that discusses them, the direction of change of the percent (increase or decrease) does not necessarily have to be the same as the direction of change of the "Part", so long as the "Whole" also changes. It just a matter of keeping straight, for any particular assertion --- are they talking about the "percent", the "Part", or the "Whole"? --- because information given could be about any of those three.

Let's look at this particular argument.
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years.
That's the "whole" from which real estate tax is assessed.
percent = (Part)/(Whole)* 100
(percent of property tax) = (total $ amount of property taxes)/(total market value of real estate)*100
This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined.
A bit redundant --- this sentence just points out that this same "whole" --- the "total market value of real estate" ---- is, of course, the basis of real estate tax. Property tax is based on property!
Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period.
OK, now we know --- "percent" stayed the same. So, sentence #1 told us "Whole" declined", and here we also know that "percent" stays the same --- this ineluctably means: "Part" must have also decreased. That's the only way the "Whole" could decrease while the "percent" stays the same. That "Part" would be the actual monetary amount of the property tax --- that must decrease. This is exactly what the correct answer D says.

Does this make sense?

Mike :-)

Hi Mike and VeritasKarishma,

when did you say that the percentage will be the same then how come option B is wrong?
I got confused between B and D and choose B because as mentioned in the last statement that percentage will remain the same, i.e. total revenue = total tax/total market value *100.
User avatar
KarishmaB
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Last visit: 19 Jul 2025
Posts: 16,115
Own Kudos:
74,414
 [4]
Given Kudos: 475
Location: Pune, India
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 16,115
Kudos: 74,414
 [4]
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
gaurav2m
mikemcgarry
venmic
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years. This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined. Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period. The information above most strongly supports which of the following?
A. Money collected from property taxes provided most of Altonville’s revenue during the past four years.
B. The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes did not change over the past four years.
C. Altonville officials had proposed raising property tax rates during the past four years but never did so because of strong opposition from property owners.
D. The total amount of revenue that Altonville has collected from property taxes has declined over the past four years.
E. During the past four years, Altonville officials also did not increase tax rates on other sources of revenue such as retail sales or business profits.
Dear Venmic

I don't know that there's a "key" to solving percent problems. Of course ....

percent = (Part)/(Whole)* 100

... so in any CR question that discusses them, the direction of change of the percent (increase or decrease) does not necessarily have to be the same as the direction of change of the "Part", so long as the "Whole" also changes. It just a matter of keeping straight, for any particular assertion --- are they talking about the "percent", the "Part", or the "Whole"? --- because information given could be about any of those three.

Let's look at this particular argument.
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years.
That's the "whole" from which real estate tax is assessed.
percent = (Part)/(Whole)* 100
(percent of property tax) = (total $ amount of property taxes)/(total market value of real estate)*100
This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined.
A bit redundant --- this sentence just points out that this same "whole" --- the "total market value of real estate" ---- is, of course, the basis of real estate tax. Property tax is based on property!
Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period.
OK, now we know --- "percent" stayed the same. So, sentence #1 told us "Whole" declined", and here we also know that "percent" stays the same --- this ineluctably means: "Part" must have also decreased. That's the only way the "Whole" could decrease while the "percent" stays the same. That "Part" would be the actual monetary amount of the property tax --- that must decrease. This is exactly what the correct answer D says.

Does this make sense?

Mike :-)

Hi Mike and VeritasKarishma,

when did you say that the percentage will be the same then how come option B is wrong?
I got confused between B and D and choose B because as mentioned in the last statement that percentage will remain the same, i.e. total revenue = total tax/total market value *100.


Assessed value of real estate has declined over last 4 years (say from $100 billion to $50 billion)
% of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period. (say 1% of assessed value is paid as property tax each year. This %age has remained constant)

So 4 years back, the city got 1 billion as property tax and this year it got 0.5 billion as property tax.

A. Money collected from property taxes provided most of Altonville’s revenue during the past four years.

We don't know anything about the city's overall revenue (which is a sum of ALL taxes and duties that the city collects) and what percentage is contributed by property taxes.

B. The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes did not change over the past four years.

Again, we have no idea about the city's overall revenue - did it increase/decrease/remain same. We know that property tax decreased. We don't know what percentage of overall revenue was property tax 4 years ago and now so we cannot say anything about this.

C. Altonville officials had proposed raising property tax rates during the past four years but never did so because of strong opposition from property owners.

Why they didn't raise tax rate is irrelevant. We KNOW that they did not and that is all we know.

D. The total amount of revenue that Altonville has collected from property taxes has declined over the past four years.

Correct. As seen from our example above, assessed value has declined so property tax collected has declined too.

E. During the past four years, Altonville officials also did not increase tax rates on other sources of revenue such as retail sales or business profits.

We don't know anything about other sources of revenue and collection in those.

Answer (D)
avatar
AbhimanyuDad
Joined: 10 Apr 2020
Last visit: 01 Jan 2021
Posts: 1
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 13
Posts: 1
Kudos: 1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Option D suggests that tax revenue decreased.
Though taxation is dependent on number of transactions as well.
Even if the tax rate and the assessed value remained same, there might be higher trade in the property leading to cascading and multi tax effect on a single property.
Hence concluding that tax revenue is completely dependent on Tax rate and assessed value will not be appropriate.

Please share your views.
User avatar
HoneyLemon
User avatar
Stern School Moderator
Joined: 26 May 2020
Last visit: 02 Oct 2023
Posts: 629
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 219
Status:Spirited
Concentration: General Management, Technology
WE:Analyst (Computer Software)
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
should be D ..
4 years ago .. let's suppose total rev from tax was 20% of total prop. value(200 ) .. so total tax amount is 40 .
Now if total prop. value is 100 ...rev from tax is still 20% .. so total tax amount is 20 .
so amount decreased in last 4 years .
User avatar
ChiranjeevSingh
Joined: 22 Oct 2012
Last visit: 18 Jul 2025
Posts: 394
Own Kudos:
2,882
 [2]
Given Kudos: 150
Status:Private GMAT Tutor
Location: India
Concentration: Economics, Finance
Schools: IIMA  (A)
GMAT Focus 1: 735 Q90 V85 DI85
GMAT Focus 2: 735 Q90 V85 DI85
GMAT Focus 3: 735 Q88 V87 DI84
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
GRE 1: Q170 V168
Expert
Expert reply
Schools: IIMA  (A)
GMAT Focus 3: 735 Q88 V87 DI84
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
GRE 1: Q170 V168
Posts: 394
Kudos: 2,882
 [2]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
venmic
The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years. This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city’s property tax is based—the assessed value of that real estate—has also declined. Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period.

The information above most strongly supports which of the following?

(B) The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes did not change over the past four years.


Let me explain why option B is wrong.

Let's first talk about the following percentage:

P = The percentage of your income that came from freelancing.

How do you calculate the above percentage?

\(P = \frac{Your \ income \ that \ came \ from \ freelancing}{Your \ total \ income}\)

In other words, we can rewrite your total income as the sum of your income from freelancing and your income from other sources.

\(P = \frac{Your \ income \ that \ came \ from \ freelancing}{(Your \ income \ from \ freelancing \ + \ your \ income \ from \ other \ sources)}\)

To make a statement about P, you need to be aware of your income from other sources. Right?

That's the same case here.

Let's look at the percentage talked about in option B:

P' = The percentage of Altonville’s overall revenue that was collected from property taxes

\(P' = \frac{Altonville's \ revenue \ that \ was \ collected \ from \ property \ taxes}{Altonville's \ total \ revenue}\)

Or,

\(P' = \frac{Altonville's \ revenue \ that \ was \ collected \ from \ property \ taxes}{(Altonville's \ revenue \ that \ was \ collected \ from \ property \ taxes \ + \ Altonville's \ revenue \ that \ came \ from \ other \ avenues)}\)

We have info about Altonville's revenue that was collected from property taxes. However, we have no information about Altonville's revenue that came from other avenues. Thus, we cannot say how P' has changed over the years.

Does it make sense?
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 18,455
Own Kudos:
Posts: 18,455
Kudos: 955
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7359 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
235 posts