Assessor

Duties of the Assessor
The Assessor is charged with several administrative and statutory duties. The primary duty and responsibility is to assess all real property within the Assessor's jurisdiction except that which is otherwise provided by law. This would include residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural classes of property.

Real property is revalued every two years. The effective date of the assessment is January first of each year. The Assessor determines a full or partial value for all new construction and improvements depending on their state of completion as of that January first date. Changes in market value as indicated by research, sales ratio studies and analysis of local conditions as well as economic trends both in and outside the construction industry are used in determining your assessment.

Agricultural real property is assessed at 100% of productivity and net earning capacity value. Agricultural income as reflected by production, prices, expenses, and various local conditions is taken into account.

Market Value
Residential, commercial and industrial real property are assessed at 100% market value. Market value of a property is an estimate of the price the property would sell for on the open market on the first day of January of the year of assessment. This is often referred to as the "arms length transaction" or "willing buyer/willing seller" concept. The Assessor must determine the fair market value of real property. To do this, the Assessor generally uses three approaches to value.

Notification and Appeal
If you disagree with the Assessor's estimate of value, please consider these two questions:

1. What is the actual market value of my property?
2. How does the value compare to similar properties in the neighborhood?

If you have questions about the assessment of your property, please contact the assessor's office. A written protest may be filed with the Board of Review which is composed of either three or five members from various areas of the county who are familiar with local market conditions and trends. The Board operates independently of the Assessor's office and has the power to confirm or to adjust upward or downward any assessment. An individual may petition to district court or to the Property Assessment Appeal Board if they are not satisfied with the Board of Review's decision.

General Misconceptions about the Assessor's Duties
The Assessor DOES NOT:

• Collect taxes
• Calculate taxes
• Determine tax rate
• Set policy for the Board of Review

The Assessor is concerned with value, not taxes. Taxing jurisdictions such as schools, cities and the county adopt budgets after public hearings. This determines the tax levy, which is the rate of taxation required to raise the money budgeted. The taxes you pay are proportional to the value of your property compared to the total value of property in your taxing district.

Property Owner's Legal Responsibility
It is your legal responsibility to report to the Assessor changes or improvements to your real estate. 441.24 (1) Code of Iowa provides:

If a person refuses to furnish the verified statements required in connection with the assessment of property by the assessor, or to list the corporation's or person's property, the Director of Revenue and Finance or Assessor, as the case may be, shall proceed to list and assess the property according to the best information obtainable and shall add to the taxable valuation one hundred percent thereof, which valuation and penalty shall be separately shown, and shall constitute the assessment; and if the valuation of the property is changed by a board of review or on appeal from a board of review, a like penalty shall be added to the valuation thus fixed.

There are many things you should report to your local assessor like:

• New buildings
• Buildings removed, torn down or damaged by fire or flood
• Remodeling (interior and exterior)
• Additions to house or buildings
• New furnace / central air
• Mobile homes
• Fireplaces
• Basement or attic finish
• Decks, patios, and garages

Please call your local assessor's office to report any changes to your property. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

Tax Levies and Assessed Valuation
There are a number of different taxing districts in a jurisdiction, such as schools, cities, county, and townships. They all have a different levy. Each year the levies determined by the taxing entities that will yield enough money to pay for schools, police and fire protection, road maintenance and other services are budgeted for in that area. The tax levy is applied to each $1,000 of a property’s taxable value.

The value determined by the Assessor is the assessed value and is the value indicated on the assessment roll.

The taxable value is the value determined by the County Auditor after application of state ordered "rollback" percentages for the various classes of property and is the value indicated on the tax statement.

When comparing the value of your property with other properties, always compare with the value on the assessment roll or the assessor’s property record cards and not the value indicated on the tax statement.

How the Assessor Estimates Market Value
To estimate the market value of your property, the Assessor generally uses three approaches.

The first approach is to find properties that are comparable to yours which have sold recently. Local conditions peculiar to your property are taken into consideration. The Assessor also uses sales ratio studies to determine the general level of assessment in a community in order to adjust for local conditions. This method is generally referred to as the MARKET APPROACH and is usually considered the most important in determining the value of residential property.

The second approach is the COST APPROACH and is an estimate of how many dollars at current labor and material prices it would take to replace your property with one similar to it. If the event improvement is not new, appropriate amounts for depreciation and obsolescence is deducted from replacement value. Value of the land is added to arrive at an estimate of the total property value

The INCOME APPROACH is the third method. It is used if your property produces income such as an apartment or office building. In that case, your property could be valued according to its ability to produce income under prudent management. In other words, the amount another investor would give for your property in order to gain its income. The income approach is the most complex of the three approaches because of the research, information and analysis necessary for an accurate estimate of value. This method requires thorough knowledge of local and national financial conditions, as well as any developmental trends in the area of the subject property being appraised since errors or inaccurate information can seriously affect the final estimate of value.

GUIDE TO ESTIMATING PROPERTY TAXES ON
RESDIDENTIAL PROPERTY (.pdf)

Things to Remember

• Assessed value and taxable value are not synonymous terms.
• Property is assessed as of January First.
• Property is reassessed every two years.
• Taxes are levied on a value determined by applying a "roll back" percentage to the assessed value and deducting any applicable exemptions or credits. The "roll back" percentages vary each year.
  

Example:
$100,000 1999 Assessed value ( 2001 residential classification)
x 0.516676 roll back percentage (2001)
$51,667 roll back value (taxable)
- $4,365 Homestead Credit*
$47,302 net taxable value
x 0.03658665 levy = $36.58665 per thousand (varies with taxing district)
$1,730 property tax (rounded to nearest even whole dollar)

* For 2001, Iowa Legislators reduced the homestead Credit from $4850 to $4,365

• On values determined as of January First, one does not start to pay taxes until eighteen months later.
• Increases in assessed value of individual parcels of property, as determined by the assessor, may exceed four percent within a jurisdiction.
• Agricultural property, except agricultural dwellings, are assessed on the basis of productivity and net earning capacity using a five year crop average,
• Assessors and members of the Board of Review are appointed to their terms of office.
• Assessors, in addition to completing the required 150 hours of Continuing Education, must be approved by a majority vote of the Conference Board in order to be reappointed.

Dates to Remeber

January 1 - Effective date of current assessment.

April 16 thru May 5 - Inclusive Protest of assessment period for filing with the local Board of Review.

May 1 thru adjournment - Board of Review meets each year.

October 16 thru October 25 inclusive - Protest period for filing with Board of Review on those properties affected by changes in value as a result of the Director of Revenue and Finance Equalization Orders (odd numbered years.)

By July 1- Period for filing for homestead Credit and Military Exemption. One time filing is provided, by statute, unless the property owner is: (1) filing for Military or Homestead Credit the first time; (2) has purchased a new or used home and is occupying the property as a homestead as of July 1st; or (3) owner was using as a homestead but did not previously file.

Filing is required on the following, if provisions have been made for exemptions as required:

Annual Permanent Other
Family Farm Credit, Forest Reservations, Wetlands,
Impoundment Structures, Pollution Control, Urban Revitalization,
Native Prairies, Wildlife Habitat, Disabled Veterans, Homestead,
Open Prairies, Iowa Barn, Industrial Partial 427B,
Forest Cover, One Room School House, Fruit Tree Reservations,
River and Stream Banks, Cattle Facilities,
Recreational Lake