By Relocation.com Staff
The assessor's role is to determine the value of the property but not to determine the amount of the taxes. The more correct name for a tax assessor is a "Real Property Assessor." The assessor determines the fair market value of your property. This can be done in three different ways:
- Market Value. It compares value of property to that of similar or comparable properties. This also looks at the highest price a property would make if it were on the open market. It is important to remember that sale's comparisons are based on arms length samples i.e. the only connection that buyers and sellers have is the home sale. This is in an effort to make the assessment fairly.
- Income. How much would the property cost if it were rented? The assessor includes such things as the current market rental rates, vacancy rates, insurances and maintenance costs associated with the property.
- Cost Approach. This is based on the cost of actually replacing the property minus depreciation. It is the most difficult to compute and thus the least favored method by assessors.
If your assessment does not appear to be fair or you are not satisfied, you may go to the assessor's office to review how the assessment was calculated i.e. market value, income or cost approach. This can often be done informally, however, if you are not satisfied, you can request a judicial review. The assessor's office maintains current information on each piece of property it assesses such as owner, maps and special characteristics. If you think your taxes are too high and you want your voice heard, you will need to make the elected officials in the municipality aware of your concerns and not the assessor.