Spatial Analysis: Tax Credit Allocation Cost-Benefit
In order to provide effective and efficient services, government agencies ought to use the least amount of resources to enhance as much public good as possible. Besides operating government programs, government agencies usually spend a huge amount of resources, including man power, funding, and time, on connecting the right people to the right programs. Any failed connection would be a waste of the government’s resources. For the case of this home repair tax credit program, the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) proactively reaches out to eligible homeowners at random but typically only 11% of them take the credit. Although this approach is inclusive, it is neither effective nor efficient, that reaching out to the eligible homeowners who are not going to take the tax credit program is considered a waste of their limited outreach resources. With past record data, it is possible to identify eligible homeowners who are more likely to take the tax credit program. By prioritizing the outreach resources to them, HCD can save some efforts while gaining a more successful outcome. Therefore, grounded on a cost benefit analysis, this project aims to develop a prediction model which can help the community outreach process to be more effective and efficient.
disclamer: this project is a part of a graduate course