Question

In Seattle, the tax on a property assessed at $500,000 is $9,000. If tax rates are proportional in this city, how much would the tax be on a property assessed at $1,000,000?

Answer 1

Answer:

$18,000

Explanation:

Let us represent the tax by y and the property value by x. If the tax is proportional to the property value, then the relationship between y and x is the following.

$y=kx$

where k is the constant of propotionality.

Now, to paraphrase, we are told that when y = $9,000, then x = $500,000. This means

$9000=k(500,000)$

and we need to solve for k.

Dividing both sides by 9000 gives

$k=\frac{9,000}{500,000}$

which simplifies to give

$\boxed{k=\frac{9}{500}.}$

With the value of k in hand, our formula now becomes

$y=\frac{9}{500}x$

We can now find the tax when x = 1,000,000.

Putting in x = 1,000,000 into the above formula gives

$y=\frac{9}{500}(1,000,000)$

which simplifies to give

$\boxed{y=18,000.}$

This means, the tax on a property assessed at $1,000,000 is $18,000.