Municipalities FAQs

• State law requires assessors to be certified by the Department of Revenue (DOR). Certification involves an exam that tests the individuals’ knowledge of appraisal, assessment law, and administration. While there is no formal training required, an assessor must show that they have the knowledge essential to successfully complete a certification exam.
• The higher the level of certification the more knowledge and responsibility the assessor can take on though examination with the DOR.

5 levels of certification

1. Assessment Technician
2. Property Appraiser
3. Assessor 1
4. Assessor 2
5. Assessor 3 (administrative only)

Property Assessment Guide for Municipal Officers

Full Revaluation

A Full Revaluation is a process to revalue all parcels in the municipality to determine the full market value of a parcel.. Full interior and exterior inspections are necessary to gather the most accurate information, creating equity between similar properties. This is necessary because of economic conditions that are constantly changing.

Exterior Revaluation

An Exterior Revaluation is a process to revalue all parcels in the municipality, but a full revaluation has been completed within the last 6 - 9 years.

Interim Market Update

A Market Update is conducted when a full revaluation was completed within the last five years and the assessment level is at an unacceptable level. Specific neighborhoods or classes are adjusted according to market conditions.

Annual Review/Maintenance

An annual maintenance year pertains copying the previous years assessment roll and updating values to the current assessment level due to significant changes in the property. Examples include: remodeling, demolition, modifications to land, and any other occurrence that might affect value or attributes of a parcel.

The law requires that each municipality is within 10 percent of market value once every five years. If/when a municipality is not within the 10 percent requirement a revaluation is needed or the state may step in and order a revaluation. However, if the municipality is within the guidelines over an extended period of time, the Department of Revenue recommends doing a revaluation because records may become outdated and inaccurate.

The assessor has three major duties: discover, list, and value all properties in a municipality to ensure that all properties are uniform and equitable. Also, the duties of the assessor must conform to the state law while using accounting and appraisal practices. The primary goal of the assessor is to find the fair market value of a property so that all taxpayers contribute a fair share of support to the community services.

Discover

• Prior to beginning the assessments of any given year, the assessor obtains all new forms reports, notices, guides, from the Department of Revenue which shows any updates that have occurred throughout the year.
• The assessor receives copies of building permits from the building inspector, zoning changes, market data, and also cost and income data to stay informed.
• Formulate a plan to view properties
• Conduct field reviews and Value

List

• Listing involves collecting data on each parcel using property record cards and recording assessment information in the assessment roll.
• The assessment roll is the official listing of all the properties within a municipality.
• The Assessor must establish and maintain a record of all the properties in the municipality so that properties are not confused with one another.

Value

• Estimating market value of a property is the price most people would pay for its present condition.
• Properties are broken down into different classifications according to their use. Then the assessor uses the income approach, sales approach, and cost approach to determine the current value of a property.
• Each year the assessor has to do it all over again because the market is always changing.