Real Estate Assessment
• Assessment is the process of placing value on a property for the purpose of property taxation. The first equalized assessment values were placed on the county tax rolls in 1985. Reassessment has occurred every two years since then and is an update of all real property assessments in the county. The purpose of reassessment is to equalize values among taxpayers and to adjust values to current market conditions. Reassessment is necessary because, in general, real estate appreciates (will be sold for more than what the owner paid for it at an earlier date). This helps keep new construction home owners who have been put on for current value from bearing the tax burden, since older homes are also brought up to their current value in reassessment. Since mass appraisal methods are used by the county, statistical analysis of local sales are used in conjunction with field review work to establish a value for land and improvements to the land. Missouri's assessment date is January 1st; real property is assessed as of January 1st of each odd-numbered year. Reassessment values are placed on the county tax rolls in the odd years (2005, 2007, etc.) and this value is used for two tax years. New construction and additions to existing improvements are added to the county tax rolls every year.
• Once an appraised value has been determined, a percentage of that value is calculated to arrive at assessed value. The percentage is based on the classification, determined by the type of property or how it is used. There are four classes of real property: Residential, Agriculture, Commercial, and Other. The percentages for each class are: Residential 19%, Agriculture 12%, Commercial 32%, and Other 32%. For example a residential appraised value of $100,000 would have an assessed value of $19,000. Taxes are calculated by multiplying the assessed value times the combined levies of the taxing entities which levy a tax on that particular property. For example, in 2003, a home in the Rolla School District outside city limits with a residential assessed value of 19,000, where a combined tax levy of $4.2510 per hundred dollars of assessed value was levied, the total tax bill was $807.69: $19,000 divided by 100 times $4.2510 equals $807.69.
• Aerial photography is used to help inventory all the parcels and the structures on the parcels. The county has over 300 tax maps that are used by data collectors as they review existing and new construction and new parcels that have been created. There are over 25,000 structures in the assessor records.
• The assessment process was computerized by former assessor, Jack Harris. The computer is used track the assessment values assigned to every parcel and to maintain pertinent records for each parcel. In reassessment years the computer is used to quickly update every parcel to reflect current value. Building data collected in the field is entered into the computer and the improvement value (usually a replacement cost new less depreciation) is calculated and added to the assigned land value resulting in an appraised value. When the final value is assigned, the record becomes permanent and, if the assessed value has increased compared to the previous year, the property owner is notified in the spring of the first year the new value will be used. Assessment lists and tax books are all computer generated.