Real Property
Real property is reappraised or reassessed every two years by state law; it is reassessed every odd numbered year, i.e. 2021, 2023, 2025. All assessments on real property are based on an effective date of January 1st of that calendar year. Every even numbered year i.e. 2022, 2024, 2026, the Assessor looks for new construction of improvements or losses of improvements from the previous tax assessment year. The Assessor determines to put any new construction at full or partial value upon its state of completion as of January 1st of that tax assessment cycle.
In the determination of value increases for reassessment on the odd numbered years, a statistic study is completed to analyze value differences from what properties within the county are selling for compared to what the Assessors Office has the properties appraised for. When the study is complete a determination is made to see whether an overall value increase is merited on structures as well as on the land values. Typically real property within our county appreciates every year; we have to base our increase(s) on properties for a two year span. After the percentage of increase is determined, it is placed in the cost approaches for land values and on improvement values and calculated with a computer assisted mass appraisal system.
The Assessors Office has field appraisers go out every year and visually inspect every property and parcel within the county. Their job(s) consist of measuring the square footage of any improvements that have been constructed from the previous year, and they also determine any depreciation changes that need to be made to all structures on that property or parcel. Each appraiser drives a county vehicle with identification on its sides; they also carry ID badges and business cards for identification. Upon entry of your property they will check all structures that are residing upon it, if there are any new structures present at the time of inspection they will measure the outside dimensions and draw them on a property record card, and possibly take a photograph of the new structure. If you feel that someone other than our appraisers are on your property without identification, please contact our office to verify if they are in your area of the county.
The Assessors throughout the state are responsible for placing a fair market value on your property and all other real estate properties within the county, the procedures for arriving at value have been given to the Assessor from the State Tax Commission of Missouri. There are three subclasses of property on real estate, Residential property which is assessed at 19% of market value; Agricultural property which is assessed at 12% of market value; and Commercial or Other which is assessed at 32% of market value. These assessed classes are combined if there are multiple uses on the property being assessed, the values are then used to determine the actual tax dollar amounts based on the levies that property may reside in.
All Agricultural land through out the county is assessed at 12% of its market value, the values for Agricultural land are determined by the Missouri State Legislature and Missouri State Tax Commission, the land values are separated into 8 soil classes based on their productivity values, below are the classes with the price per acre associated along with it: Soil Class 1=$1,035.00 per acre, Soil Class 2=$850.00 per acre, Soil Class 3=$645.00 per acre, Soil Class 4=$405.00 per acre, Soil Class 5=$205.00 per acre, Soil Class 6=$158.00 per acre, Soil Class 7=$79.00 per acre and Soil Class 8=$31.00 per acre.
All real estate records are assigned to owners based on deed conveyances recorded in the County Recorders Office, if you feel that there is a problem with your property as far as how it’s titled, please contact our office to see if we are missing some form of conveyance that was missed or omitted. All real estate transfers are done up until August 31st of that tax calendar year, if you receive a tax statement in your name and it was sold after August 31st you will need to contact the County Collector about forwarding the statement to the new owners. All properties that were split from an original tract will not receive a statement until the next year, property is assessed based on what acreage was there and conveyed on January 1st of that calendar year. Please check your closing statements from the title company to see if taxes have been adjusted or credited by each party as well.
Real Estate Appeal Process
In the event that a value change has been made on your property, the Assessor is required to send a Notice of Change in Value, this notice should show the current value(s) compared to the previous value(s). If you feel that the value that the Assessor arrived at is excessive, all taxpayers have the right to an informal hearing with their County Assessor. When an informal hearing is made, the Assessor will explain why the values have changed for that assessment year, it would be beneficial for the property owners to bring in any kind of evidence to support that the Assessors value is in excess. If no changes are made with the informal hearings, you have the right to make an appointment to be heard before the Board or Equalization; Appeal filing deadline for Board of Equalization is the 2nd Monday in July. The Board convenes the 3rd Monday in July. It is again beneficial for you to bring evidence before the Board to prove error in assessment. In the event that the Board made no changes, an appeal can be made with the Missouri State Tax Commission, which is the last line of appeal other than the Missouri Supreme Court.
It is the Assessors goal to be fair and equal with valuing all the property within their jurisdiction, they are mandated by State Statute to perform these duties. Remember the Assessor(s) job is to determine values, not set taxes – the Assessor has no control what so ever with setting tax levies, those duties fall upon the political or taxing entities with in the county.