Duties &
Responsibilities
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
upon their state of completion as of that January first date.
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 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.
About the Assessor
Assessors are appointed to their position by a
Conference Board consisting of the members of the Board of Supervisors,
the Mayors of all the incorporated cities, and a member of each school
district within the jurisdiction. A city with a population of 10,000 or
more may elect to have their own assessor. In cities having an assessor
the conference board shall consist of the members of the city council,
school board and county board of supervisors.
Assessors are required by law 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 Conference Board approves the Assessor's budget and after a
public hearing acts on adoption of the same. The Assessor is limited, by
statute, depending upon the value of the jurisdiction, to a levy
limitation for the budget.
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 that it 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.
Why Values Change
After properties have been appraised, the values
are analyzed to ensure accurate and equitable assessments. Iowa 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 property
assessments.
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