The total market value of

[arthi9487]

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.

I thought the answer was B because if the assessed value of the real estate has decreased, even with a constant %, the total revenues collected will be lower and the % of revenue would be lower. What is the major difference between B and C?

[RonPurewal]

I thought the answer was B because if the assessed value of the real estate has decreased, even with a constant %, the total revenues collected will be lower

^^ Yes.
And note that you just proved choice C. Not just "supported" it, but PROVED it. 100% beyond any uncertainty whatsoever.

Why would you even think about further steps? I'm confused. You've already arrived at an answer choice.

[RonPurewal]

and the % of revenue would be lower.

^^ The red thing is uncertain without information about the other items in the city budget.
The revenue from property taxes has gone down -- but, if the city's other streams of income went down as well, then the percentage could be unchanged, or even higher than it was before. We don't know.

What is the major difference between B and C?

[/quote]

C is certain. B is unknown.

[JustinCKN]

Hi Ron:
My question is that in choice B: The percentage of Altonville’s yearly revenue that comes from money collected in property taxes has declined steadily over the past four years."

Does the modifer "that comes from money collected in property taxes" modify "the percentage" or modify Altonville's yearly revenue,or modify the percentage of Altonville's yearly revenue?

In my opinion the modifier modify the percentage of Altonville's yearly revenue. If true, how can I determine the meaning when the modifier can be applied to two or more objects

Sorry to ask so basic question.
Thanks sincerely.
JustinCKN.

[RonPurewal]

just use common sense.

clearly, that modifier isn't just describing the revenue... because in that case "the percentage" would be a completely meaningless, undefined percentage.

[JustinCKN]

just use common sense.

clearly, that modifier isn't just describing the revenue... because in that case "the percentage" would be a completely meaningless, undefined percentage.

Thanks.Ron
When I prepare for the GMAT, I usually read the question stem as quickly as possible.But the more quickly I read, the ambiguous the meaning of sentence become. For me , the understanding and speed of reading is inversely proportional. I am so frustrating.
JustinCKN.

[RonPurewal]

the intended meaning of the sentence should NEVER be "ambiguous". you need to read the original sentence as slowly as necessary for the meaning to be clear.

if the intended meaning factors into a "split" / "decision point", you should already know the correct meaning when you get to that "split".
i.e., you should NOT have to go back to the original sentence and "work out" the meaning—that should be something you ALREADY KNOW.

[ajaym8]

Thanks Ron for the explanation above.
Please see my way of explanation for any flaws.:

Assume price of house X has gone down from 100/- to 10/- in 2012 to 2016
This means assessed value of house X has also declined,
maybe from 120 to 20 (randomly supposed, no logic behind the numbers)
Now, the % paid didn’t change, let's say 10% of 120 was being paid in 2012
Now also, 10% of 20 is being paid.
We have to find an inference from above statements

A) % of Altonville's annual revenue has actually decreased.
Suppose total annual revenue was 1000/-. In 2012, 12/- were being paid(10% of 120)
But now only 2/- are being paid(10% of 20)
So it has decreased rather than remained same.

B) We actually don't know. From above case, the % has remained same at 10%

C) Argument says it has been declining steadily. It may mean successive declines.
Looks better. Let's see other options.

D) No relevant info given in argument. Moreover it's an inference question. Can't
introduce assumptions.

E) What will happen is not a concern in question stem.

So C it is.
Thanks,
Ajay

[RonPurewal]

i can't tell what your question is. what are you actually trying to ask?

in general, you should never have to "plug in numbers" on CR problems! you should be able to solve any "numerical" CR problems by just thinking about the statistics/numbers in the problem and how they interact.
remember—the whole point of the verbal section is ... not to be the quant section. (: