Exploring the Influences of Point-of-Interest on Traffic Crashes during Weekdays and Weekends via Multi-Scale Geographically Weighted Regression

Some studies on the impact of traditional land use factors on traffic crashes do not take into account the limitations of spatial heterogeneity and spatial scale. To overcome these limitations this study presents a systematic method based on multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR), which considers spatial heterogeneity and spatial scale differences of different influencing factors, to explore the influence of reclassified points-of-interest (POI) on traffic crashes occurring on weekdays and weekends. Experiments were conducted on 442 communities in Hankou, Wuhan, and the performance of the proposed method was compared against traditional methods based on ordinary least squares (OLS), spatial lag model (SLM), spatial error model (SEM), and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The experiments show that the proposed method yielded the best fitness of models and more accurate model results of local coefficient estimates. The highlights of the results are as follows: There are differences in the scale of the predictor variables. Residential POI, scenic POI, and transportation POI have a global effect on traffic crashes. Commercial service POI and industrial POI affects traffic crashes at the regional scale, while public service POI affects crashes at the local scale. The local coefficient estimates from residential POI and scenic POI have little impact on traffic crashes. During weekdays, more transportation POI in the entire study area leads to more traffic crashes. While on weekends, transportation POI has a significant positive effect on crashes only in some communities. The local coefficient estimates for industrial POI vary at different periods. Commercial service POI and public service POI may increase the risk of crashes in some communities, which can be observed on weekdays and weekends. Exploring the influence of POI on traffic crashes at different periods is helpful for traffic management strategies and in reducing traffic crashes.

The Role of Fiscal Decentralization in Municipal Budgets: Case of the Czech Republic

Immovable property tax is one of the key elements of fiscal decentralization in the Czech Republic. It is the only tax that is directed to municipal budgets in the full amount. It is also the only tax the total receipts of which can be influenced by municipalities by means of corrective features. Although the significance of immovable property tax in the process of fiscal decentralization is undeniable, its role in municipal budgets is much discussed. The goal of the article is to evaluate the role of immovable property tax in budgets of Czech municipalities through its impact on the resulting balance of financial management of a particular municipality. The role of immovable property tax is assessed against its importance for the municipal budget. The data concerning financial management of municipalities, the amount of receipts of immovable property tax and the possibilities of utilization of the local coefficient in the year 2019 are analyzed in detail. The results identified by the analysis are compared with the situation in 2012 and it may be stated that although the role of immovable property tax in municipal budgets has decreased if compared with the year 2012, it still represents a significant income of Czech municipalities. At the same time, the current economic situation suggests that the importance of immovable property tax will increase in the years to come.

Utilization of a Local Coefficient for Immovable Property Tax in the Czech Republic

The paper deals with the issue of using a local coefficient as a tool to increase tax revenues of local government budgets in the Czech Republic. The local coefficient is defined as a corrective element increasing up to five times the immovable property tax that is 100% public budgets of local governments (municipalities) since 2009. As part of the paper, our own questionnaire survey was conducted across municipalities in the Czech Republic with the aim of identifying positive and negative consequences of application or non-application of this tax instrument at the level of local governments. Results of the research clearly demonstrate the use of the local coefficient, despite its potential high budget revenue is not high at all. In 2020, only 10.43% municipalities from all over the Czech Republic applied it. A research survey conducted among municipalities focused on obtaining information on the reasons for the low use of the local coefficient. To this end, two research questions were formulated “Do municipalities have sufficient information on local coefficient issues?” and “May the introduction of a local coefficient result in a loss in the communal elections?” The questionnaire survey showed that 91% municipalities know about their possibility to apply a local coefficient, but do not use it. Moreover, it was found that if the local coefficient is introduced at the right time or handling additional tax revenues of the municipality is transparent, its introduction does not affect the election result of the political party that declared it by a generally valid decree.

Municipal charges on communal waste: do they compete with the immovable property tax?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to give a recommendation to the municipalities what local tax/taxes sensu largo (a waste charge or an immovable property tax increased by a local coefficient) are to be collected to achieve expected and necessary incomes and limit the administrative costs. Design/methodology/approach To reach the aim, it was necessary to analyze the number of municipalities increasing the property tax by the local coefficient and abolishing the charge on communal waste to save money for the waste charges administration. The evidence of municipalities applying the local coefficient was used as a basis for the research. To get the information on charges on communal waste collected in these municipalities with the local coefficient within the past at least five taxable periods, the information from Monitor was used. If there was any such a significant change, then it was necessary to use the bylaws and to do thorough analysis of the reasons. Findings The hypothesis that a high number of municipalities in the Czech Republic are replacing the charge on communal waste with the local coefficient applicable for the immovable property tax was rejected. In the opinion of the author, the ideal approach is to have just one local tax – immovable property tax. This tax is administered by the state tax office and the revenue should cover the cost of waste management. Adopting only the property tax increased by the local coefficient, it is necessary to explain the benefits to the taxpayers, that is, locals and voters. Originality/value The research on the given topic was never done in the Czech Republic, as there is no evidence of local charges collected in individual municipalities.

High-Performance Finned Tubes for Production Facility Heating Systems

The values of the optimal height of the ribs and their optimal placement step on the surface of the heating device are determined. It was possible to determine that the installation of rectangular rods with a step of 8.2 mm on the surface at an angle of 90 degrees to the horizon, leads to an increase in the local coefficient of convective heat transfer to 200% compared to the surface on which there are no rods. It was found that the simplex acts as a separate parameter that affects the local coefficient of convective heat transfer on a surface with rectangular bars.

Property Tax and Quality of Life in the Czech Municipalities: Does the Policy of Raising Local Coefficient Imply Potential or Risk for Development?

Since the 1990s, the Czech intergovernmental fiscal relations have been undergoing a transformation. One of the measurements strengthening the autonomy of local authorities was the introduction of the instrument of the local coefficient in 2009 which provided the municipalities with the possibility to raise real estate tax in order to maximize their revenues. The aim of this article is to statistically analyse the impact of this instrument on the quality of life in a sample of Czech municipalities which have changed the local coefficient from 1 up to 5. The empirical analysis consists of two parts - a non-parametrical correlation analysis and paired difference testing. It is carried out in context of population ageing versus population growth, and the availability of basic public services (education, health care, communication, public safety). The analysis proves that there are great differences between the municipalities that have increased the real estate taxes and municipalities that have not. In the second case, the municipalities are more threatened by population ageing as they face the growth of population while the number of working age citizens is declining together with the provision of public services. Meanwhile, the municipalities that have increased the coefficient of real estate taxes have experienced increase in both population and working age population sizes. Such municipalities do not face the problem of shrinking of public services. Also, the policy of raising local coefficient implies a potential for ongoing development of districts.

Parallel Multiprojection Preconditioned Methods Based on Subspace Compression

During the last decades, the continuous expansion of supercomputing infrastructures necessitates the design of scalable and robust parallel numerical methods for solving large sparse linear systems. A new approach for the additive projection parallel preconditioned iterative method based on semiaggregation and a subspace compression technique, for general sparse linear systems, is presented. The subspace compression technique utilizes a subdomain adjacency matrix and breadth first search to discover and aggregate subdomains to limit the average size of the local linear systems, resulting in reduced memory requirements. The depth of aggregation is controlled by a user defined parameter. The local coefficient matrices use the aggregates computed during the formation of the subdomain adjacency matrix in order to avoid recomputation and improve performance. Moreover, the rows and columns corresponding to the newly formed aggregates are ordered last to further reduce fill-in during the factorization of the local coefficient matrices. Furthermore, the method is based on nonoverlapping domain decomposition in conjunction with algebraic graph partitioning techniques for separating the subdomains. Finally, the applicability and implementation issues are discussed and numerical results along with comparative results are presented.

IMMOVABLE PROPERTY TAX IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AS AN INSTRUMENT OF FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION

The issue of fiscal decentralization is connected with efforts to build a space for own decision-making in municipalities when raising funds. In the framework of fiscal decentralization, municipalities in the Czech Republic have an opportunity to influence immovable property tax revenues. The aim of the research is to find out the municipalities’ attitude towards the possibility of increasing immovable property tax revenues through a coefficient and how this option is used by municipalities. In the article, there is a description of the immovable property tax development in the Czech Republic on the basis of time series. The research relies on the evaluation of secondary statistical data and on the results of primary research focused on the application of the local coefficient. Municipalities have the option to edit tax components and the amount of tax reflects then the specificities and needs of the community. However, almost 92% of municipalities still postpone the introduction of a local coefficient. The motivation for the introduction of local coefficients was an increase in municipalities’ revenues generally or the need to fund specific projects. On the other hand the empirical research showed that some form of compensation is introduced in 46% of the municipalities.