Property Assessment

2010 Assessment Notices: Assessors Gear Up for Most Important Mailing of the Year

Continuous Improvement Plan Makes Assessor's Job Easier

Property assessors throughout the United States and Canada are gearing up for the most important mailing that they will send out all year: 2010 property assessment notices.  Tax laws in many states and provinces require that notices of assessment be mailed to property owners of record whenever a reassessment is performed and assessments change.  In most states and provinces the effective date of valuation for assessment purposes is December 31 or January 1, but assessment notices may be sent after this date.  For many states and provinces 2010 property assessment notices will be mailed during the period from January through March 2010.

Although the mailing of notices is a routine matter for many property assessment offices this extremely important function should not be performed without considerable thought.  In most cases the mailing of assessment notices will impact nearly all of the key areas of your office for the remainder of the assessment cycle (creating the need to correct assessment records, calling attention to public relations, coordinating the assessment review and appeal process, etc.).

Checklist for 2010 Assessment Notices

• Review a draft of the planned notice of assessment for 2010 with fresh eyes as though you are a first-time homebuyer that knows nothing about property assessment administration. Enlist the assistance of personnel in an office unrelated to assessments and ask several non-valuation people to review the notice and tell them to let you know honestly if they think it is an effective and informative notification.

• Plan changes to the draft notice of assessment after asking for assessment office staff input and giving attention to current real estate market conditions. Valuation staff who have heard property owner complaints during the assessment review and appeal process can provide important input here about what may help property owners understand the process better (e.g., why certain home sales are not considered in the assessment process).

• Ask for input from stakeholders in the assessment process, including the Board of Equalization or Board of Assessment Review and any city or county citizen committees related to assessments or public relations. Also consider asking for feedback from citizen or homeowner associations that you may have spoken to during the last assessment cycle and randomly select an odd number of property owners who filed for assessment review or appealed their assessments and ask them for input.

• Take time to see the assessment notices that neighboring or comparable assessment jurisdictions are using. Many assessment offices post a sample assessment notice on their website. Check a few to see what new items or information may have been added.

• Finally, If any of the proposed changes require it, check with regional (equalization offices) or state and provincial oversight agencies (revenue or tax departments or agencies) about planned changes that may need interpretation of tax laws.

Watch for upcoming feature articles related to the importance of 2010 property assessment notices to real estate agents and other real estate industry experts, tax agents and representatives, and property owners and investors.

Richard L. Sanderson

Where to Find Property Assessment Information in Northern Virginia

Don’t Pay for Information you Can Get for Free

Several times each day appraisers, assessors, bankers, real estate brokers and sales agents, and settlement agents search the Internet to find real estate assessment information.  Since August of 2008 finding assessment information in Northern Virginia on the Internet became much easier when Manassas Park City Assessor Richard Sanderson, with assistance from local assessors throughout Northern Virginia posted “Contact Information for Local Real Estate Assessors Located in the Greater Northern Virginia Area” on several websites.  This popular list has just been updated and is available by clicking here.

While the Internet shows many services willing to provide real estate assessment information for a subscription fee, many people can get more up-to-date information from their local assessor for free.  Unless your business is multi-regional covering several assessment jurisdictions, try the local assessors' sites first.  Most real estate information reporting services collect their data from local assessors once or twice a year, which means assessment changes or corrections are not always as current as is the case with your local assessor.

Popular Publication Added to Zillow.com(R) Advice-Discussion

How Many Real Estate Experts in Your Area Know These Key Features About Real Estate Assessments?

"What Every Real Estate Agent Should Know About Real Estate Assessments and Taxes" a Property Assessment publication was recently added to the Advice-Discussion section of the popular website by Zillow.com(R) Real Estate Service. See how many of these tips you already know, or tell us about others that are important to you that you think should be added.  Let's start a discussion between real estate agents and assessors that is productive to us both.

Hoping for a Tax Assessment Reduction in 2010?

City Assessor Advises Commercial and Industrial Property Owners to Take Action

If you only have time to do one thing in the next week file an income and expense statement with your local real estate assessing office informing them of the current ability for you to lease your commercial or industrial property in today's market.  Even if you own and occupy your property you should be current with asking rents, rental concessions, vacancy rates, tenant fit-up expenses and operating expenses for similar properties.  Call your local assessor and find out how you can provide his or her office with income and expense information about the type of property that you own.

Assessors can and often do reflect current real estate market conditions using what valuation experts call the "income approach to value."  But in order to consider this approach your local assessors needs to know how your property and competing properties are fairing in today's market.  So this is not only a plea for you to provide such information to the local assessor, but other commercial and industrial property owners as well.  It stands to reason that an assessor will be swayed by strong evidence that indicates prevailing market conditions more than just a few instances of the lowering of rents and high vacancies. In some states, like Virginia, if the local assessor asks for income and expense information and you did not comply with the request neither the assessor, Board of Equalization, or circuit court judge will consider the income approach to value as part of the assessment review and appeal process.  As such you are left only with construction costs and comparable sales approaches to value.  Don't eliminate this valuable approach! 

Most assessors have downloadable income and expense statements available on their websites.  Unfortunately there is very little standardization in the real estate assessment field at this time.  So don't use a statement from another assessor website.

If you would like more advice, tips, and suggestions about real estate assessments subscribe to our e-alerts or check back at this Property Assessment blog often.  You'll understand how assessors do their jobs and how to take constructive action when they don't.

   

Recommended Website of the Week: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

An occasional series that recommends useful websites to our readers as discovered by Property Assessment authors or suggested by readers.

 

Here is Exactly Where Land Policy and Property Tax Policy Intersect

 

Typically immediately after a new employee to property assessment administration is told about the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), and perhaps the IAAO state chapter or affiliate, they are introduced to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.  Lincoln Institute of Land Policy publications and educational courses consistently get high marks from professional property assessors.

According to their website http://www.lincolninst.edu/, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, as a leading resource for policy makers and practitioners, addresses issues involving the use, regulation, and taxation of land. The Lincoln Institute seeks to improve the dialogue about urban development, the built environment, and tax policy in the United States and abroad.

I highly recommend this website for professional property assessors and those interested in property tax policy.