| The
Assessor is charged with several administrative and statutory duties;
however, the primary duty and responsibility is to cause to be assessed
all real property within their 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 1 of the
current year. The assessor determines a full or partial value of new
construction, or improvements depending upon the state of completion
as of January 1. |
Misconceptions
about the Assessor
The assessor does not do any of the following:
1. Collect taxes
2. Calculate taxes
3. Determine tax rate
4. Set policy for the Board of Review |
| The
Assessor is concerned with value, not taxes. Taxing
jurisdictions such as schools, cities, and townships, 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 proportionate to the value of your property compared to the
total value of the taxing district in which your properties is located. |
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General
Information
Assessors
are appointed to their positions by a Conference Board consisting
of the members of the Board of Supervisors, the Mayors of all incorporated
cities and a member from each school district within the jurisdiction.
A city with a population of 10 thousand or more may elect to have
their own assessor. Assessors are required by statute, to pass a state
examination and complete a Continuing Education Program consisting
of 150 hours of formal classroom instruction with 90 hours tested
and a passing grade of 70% attained. The latter requirement must be
met in order for the assessor to be reappointed to the position every
six years. The Deputy Assessor also must pass a state examination
as well as successfully complete 90 hours of classroom instruction
of which at least 6 hours are tested. The Conference Board approves
the assessor's budget and after a public hearing acts on adoption
of same. The assessor is limited, by statute, depending upon the value
of the jurisdiction, to l levy limatization for his or her budget. |
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| Market
Value |
Market
value of a property is an estimate of the price that it would sell
for on the open market on January 1 of the year of assessment. This
is sometimes referred to as the "arms length transaction"
or "willing buyer/willing seller" concept.
|
How
does the Assessor Estimate Market Value?
To
estimate the market value of your property, the Assessor generally
uses three approaches.
1)
The first approach is to find properties that comparable to
you 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 usually considered
the most important in determining the value of residential property.
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| 2)
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. In
the event improvement is not new appropriate amounts for depreciation
and obsolescence would be deducted from replacement value. Value of
the land then would be added to arrive to the total estimate of value. |
| 3)
The third approach is the INCOME APPROACH and 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,
what another investor would give for a 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 properly being appraised since errors
or inaccurate information can seriously affect the final estimate
of value. |
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| Why
Values Change |
| State
law requires that all real property be reassessed every two years.
The current law requires the reassessment to occur in odd numbered
years. 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. |
If
you disagree with the assessor's estimate of value,
please consider these two questions before proceeding, as outlined
below:
What is the actual market value of my property?
How does the value compare to the similar properties in the neighborhood?
If you have any questions about the assessment of your property, feel
free to come in and discuss it with the assessor. |
You
may file a written protest with the Board of Review,
which is composed of three or five members from various areas of the
assessing jurisdiction. The Board operates independently of the assessor's
office, and has the power to confirm or to adjust either upward or
downward any assessment.
If you are not satisfied with the decision of the Board of Review
you may appeal to district court within twenty days after adjournment
of said Board, or twenty days after May 31st whichever is latest.
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| Tax
levies and assessed Values |
| There
are a number of different taxing districts in a jurisdiction, each
with a different levy. Each year the County Auditor determines for
that district a levy that will yield enough money to pay for schools,
police and fire protection, road maintenance and other services budgeted
for in that area. The tax levy is applied to each $1,000 of a properties
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 auditor after application of
state ordered "rollback" percentages for the various classes
of property, with other properties always compare with the value on
the assessment roll of the assessor's property record cards and not
the value indicated on the tax statement. |
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Exemption
and Credits
Iowa
law provides for a number of exemptions and credits, including Homestead
Credit and Military Exemption. It is the property owner's responsibility
to apply for these as provided by law. If the property you were occupying
as a homestead is sold, or if you cease to use the property as a homestead
you are required to report this to the assessor in whose jurisdiction
the property is located. |
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Dates
To Remember
January
1 - Effective date of current assessment.
April 16 through May 5 inclusive - Protest of assessment
period for filing with the local Board of Review.
May 1 through adjournment - Board of Review meets
each year.
October 16 through 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).
January 1 through December 31 - Period for filing
for Homestead Credit and Military Exemption. One time filing is provided,
by statute, unless the property owner:
(1) Is filing for a 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.
|
| If
the home qualifies and the property owner files on or before July
1, the exemption will go into effect for the current assessment year.
If the property owner files after July 1, the exemption will go into
effect the year following the sign up. |
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Filing
is required on the following, if provisions have been made for exemptions
as required: |
| * |
Family
Farm Credit |
- |
Recreational
Lake |
Key |
| * |
Forest
Reservations |
* |
PollutionControl |
- |
Annual
|
| * |
Fruit
Tree Reservations 8 years |
- |
Forest
Cover |
* |
Permanent
|
| - |
Impoundment
Structures |
* |
Wildlife
Habitat |
+ |
Other |
| - |
Native
Prairies |
- |
Wetlands |
|
| - |
Open
Prairies |
+ |
Urban
Revitalization |
| - |
Disabled
Veterans Homestead Credit |
+ |
Industrial
Partial 427B |
| - |
River
amd Stream Banks |
|
|
|
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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 the auditor by applying a "roll
back" percentage to the assessed value and deducting any applicable
exemptions or credits. The "roll back" percentages vary
each year. |
On
values determined as of January First,
one does not stand to pay taxes until eighteen months later. The
"roll back" is the percentage of actual value that is
determined by the Director of Revenue each year on the several classes
of property where the total value increase STATEWIDE,
exceeds four percent for each class of property. The percentage
so determined by the Director of Revenue are certified to and applied
by the local county auditor to all property in each class affected
throughout the State. Percentages determined by the Director of
Revenues are the same for all the assessing jurisdictions in the
State. |
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 and capitalized at the rate set by the Legislature.
The rate is currently seven percent. Tentative and final equalization
orders are issued by the Director of Revenue and Finance in odd numbered
years on or about August 15th, and October 1st respectively. The orders
are sent to the various county auditors who apply them to the classes
of property affected, if any.
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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.
|
| If
you desire further information, questions concerning
PROPERTY VALUES
or other information relating thereto should be addressed to the assessor's
office in the respective jurisdiction and not the Board of Supervisors
or Treasurer. The assessors of Iowa hope that the information contained
herein will be of value to the property owner and has clarified some
of these problems and issues relating to assessment and the applicable
laws. |
| This
information was prepared by the Public Relations Committee of the
Iowa State Association of Assessors. |
