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THE PROPERTY TAX PUZZLE How The Assessor Fits In.... Your property taxes go to pay for the costs of local government, and the size of your share of these costs depends on the value of your property. Your assessor's job is to make sure each home is properly valued - so everyone pays a fair share of these costs. .. Your assessor's job is to make sure that all property in your area is listed at its market value. "Market value" simply means what you could sell your home for in today's housing market. As demand increases and the cost of buying a home rises, the market value of other houses like it rises, too. . The assessor gauges your home's market value. How? By checking the selling prices of houses similar to yours. Every time a house changes hands, either the buyer or seller sends in a certificate of value to the county courthouse. By studying the certificates of value, the assessor gets a pretty good idea of what homes are selling for each year. That's just one step the assessor goes through to find market value. There's more: By law, at least one- fourth of all the homes in your area must be individually checked each year. You can expect the assessor to visit your home about once every four years~ What do assessors look for on these visits? --Changes you've made on your property. Some - say you've built on an attached garage - affect the market value. Other changes - such as a new roof or paint job - may not. -- How your house compares with other houses in your neighborhood. Two houses with exactly the same floorplan, lot size, general condition and age might have different market values, depending on the location. To make sure your home is valued fairly, the assessor looks at your home's market value each year. The assessor may get out to see your home only once in every four years. In " today's fast-changing housing lIlarket,"" though, "its selling price can change drastically in" that length of time. The assessor is responsible for making sure that all property - not just the houses visited in anyone year - is lisfed at the correct market value each year. For example, the assessor might look at the rate of inflation as it is affecting housing prices. Based on that information,' he or she then applies a percentage rate to the value of property not visited that year. That's why many homeowners get change of value notices each year, in the spring. If you get a notice of change of value, and you don't agree with the amount-- --Call your assessor first to talk it over. If you still disagree with the assessment, there are steps you can take. Those steps are listed right on the notice. FROM ASSESSMENT TO PROPERTY TAX The assessors must turn over all information they've gathered to the county auditor. At the same time, locally elected governments - your school board, for instance, and your county officers - send the county auditor their budgets. The county auditor then divides the budget total by the assessed value of all the property. The result is the tax rate (mill rate) that must be charged to meet the budget. So - your property value determines what your share of local government costs will be. Say the value of your property works out to one percent of the total value of all property in your community. Your property taxes, then, should pay for one percent of your local government's budget. But it's a long way from the assessment to your property tax statement. Between those two steps, a lot of people get involved. Your assessor __ trained and licensed by the State Board of Assessors - has an important part in this process. But - as for determining what your property tax bill will be, that's up to you - through the people you elect to your city council, your school board, or your county board. The budget they set to meet your community's needs determines what the tax rate on your property will be.