the increase in property operating expenses from our large market same store group is primarily the result of increases in real estate taxes of $ 3.2 million , personnel expenses of $ 1.9 million , water expenses of approximately $ 1.0 million , cable expenses of $ 0.5 million , and waste removal expenses of $ 0.2 million . the increase in property operating expenses from our secondary market same store group is primarily a result of increases in other operating expenses of $ 1.5 million , real estate taxes of $ 1.1 million , and personnel expenses of $ 1.2 million . the decrease in property operating expenses from our non-same store and other group is primarily the result of decreases in personnel expenses of $ 2.4 million and utility expenses of $ 1.7 million . depreciation and amortization the following table shows our depreciation and amortization expense by segment for the years ended december 31 , 2015 and december 31 , 2014 ( dollars in thousands ) : year ended december 31 , 2015 year ended december 31 , 2014 increase percentage increase .
for the year ended december 31 2015 what was the ratio of the depreciation and amortization in the large market same store to the secondary market same store
the decrease in depreciation and amortization expense is primarily due to a decrease of $ 19.4 million related to the amortization of the fair value of in-place leases and resident relationships acquired as a result of the merger from the year ended december 31 , 2014 to the year ended december 31 , 2015 . this decrease was partially offset by an increase in depreciation expense of $ 11.7 million driven by an increase in gross real estate assets from the year ended december 31 , 2014 to the year ended december 31 , 2015 . property management expenses property management expenses for the year ended december 31 , 2015 were approximately $ 31.0 million , a decrease of $ 1.1 million from the year ended december 31 , 2014 . the majority of the decrease was related to a decrease in state franchise taxes of $ 2.1 million , partially offset by an increase in insurance expense of $ 0.6 million , an increase in payroll expense of $ 0.3 million , and an increase in incentive expense $ 0.3 million . general and administrative expenses general and administrative expenses for the year ended december 31 , 2015 were approximately $ 25.7 million , an increase of $ 4.8 million from the year ended december 31 , 2014 . the majority of the increase was related to increases in legal fees of $ 2.7 million and stock option expenses of $ 1.6 million . merger and integration related expenses there were no merger or integration related expenses for the year ended december 31 , 2015 , as these expenses related primarily to severance , legal , professional , temporary systems , staffing , and facilities costs incurred for the acquisition and integration of colonial . for the year ended december 31 , 2014 , merger and integration related expenses were approximately $ 3.2 million and $ 8.4 million , respectively . interest expense interest expense for the year ended december 31 , 2015 was approximately $ 122.3 million , a decrease of $ 1.6 million from the year ended december 31 , 2014 . the decrease was primarily the result of a decrease in amortization of deferred financing cost from the year ended december 31 , 2014 to the year ended december 31 , 2015 of approximately $ 0.9 million . also , the overall debt balance decreased from $ 3.5 billion to $ 3.4 billion , a decrease of $ 85.1 million . the average effective interest rate remained at 3.7% ( 3.7 % ) and the average years to rate maturity increased from 4.4 years to 4.8 years . job title mid-america apartment 10-k revision 1 serial <12345678> date sunday , march 20 , 2016 job number 304352-1 type page no . 50 operator abigaels .