Assessor

The Office of the County Assessor is responsible for accurately and uniformly determining the market value-in-use of every property in the county. This is achieved by using three approaches to value: Cost, Income, and Sales Comparison. The State requires annual adjustments of assessments to reflect changes in the market. Property values are annually adjusted each year, in a process known as trending, to bring them closer to market value-in-use.

Overview

The County Assessor identifies, lists, and calculates the assessed value of all Real and Personal property. In general, the County Assessor performs the following duties:

  • Oversees the Cyclical Reassessment process; conducting on-sites to all properties every four years.
  • Records property characteristics (measurements, number of stories, basement vs crawl) to determine cost to build accurately.
  • Discovers and identifies omitted improvements (i.e., barns, decks, new construction w/o permits).
  • Insures countywide uniform Property Tax Equalization.
  • Conducts Ratio Studies, using recent sales, making Annual Adjustments to bring assessments to Market Value.
  • Utilizes recent sales of land (Sales Disclosures) to establish base market rates and values in each neighborhood, adjusts base values depending on location, amenities and other influence factors.
  • Calculates the assessed value of all real property in each taxing district.
  • Provides current assessed values to the County Auditor's Office.
  • Verifies and reviews the self-reported values of all Business and Farm Personal Property in each taxing district.
  • Calculates the assessed value and transfers ownership of Annually Assessed Mobile Homes.
  •  Serves as a non-voting Member & Secretary of the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA).
  • Logs all property assessment appeals and conducts preliminary hearings.