General Misconceptions about the Assessors work

What is Market Value?

How Does the Assessor Estimate Market Value?

Why Values Change

Exemptions and Credits

How Does the Assessor Know What Personal Property I Have?

The Assessor's duties and what they mean to you

What are the Assessor's duties?
The Assessor is charged with several administrative and statutory duties; however, the primary duty and responsibility is to assess all real property within their 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 the current year.  The assessor determines a full or partial value of new construction, or improvements depending upon the state of completion as of January First.

General Misconceptions About the Assessor's Work
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 townships, 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 proportionate to the value of your property compared to the total value of the taxing district in which your property is located.
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What is Market Value?
Market value of a property is an estimate of the price that it would sell for on the open market on January First of the year of assessment.  This is sometimes referred to as the "arms length transaction" or "willing buyer/willing seller" concept.
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How Does the Assessor Estimate Market Value?
To estimate the market value of your property, the Assessor generally uses three approaches.  The first approach is to find properties that are comparable to yours which have sold recently.  Local conditions peculiar to your property are taken into consideration.  The assessor also uses sales ratio studies to determine the general level of assessment in a community, in order to adjust for local conditions.  This method generally referred to is the MARKET APPROACH and usually considered the most important in determining the value of residential property.  The second approach is the COST APPROACH and is an estimate of how many dollars at current labor and material prices it would take to replace your property with one similar to it.  In the event improvement is not new appropriate amounts for depreciation and obsolescence would be deducted from replacement value.  Value of the land then would be added to arrive to the total estimate of value.  The INCOME APPROACH is the third method used if your property produces income such as an apartment or office building.  In that case, your property could be valued according to its ability to produce income under prudent management; in other words, what another investor would give for a property in order to gain its income.  The income approach is the most complex of the three approaches because of the research, information and analysis necessary for an accurate estimate of value.  This method requires thorough knowledge of local and national financial conditions, as well as any developmental trends in the area of the subject property being appraised since errors or inaccurate information can seriously affect the final estimate of value.
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Why Values Change
State 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 your assessment. 
If you disagree with the assessor's estimate of value, please consider these two questions before proceeding, as outlined below:

1. What is the actual market value of my property?
2. How does the value compare to similar properties in the neighborhood?
   1. If you have any questions about the assessment of your property, feel free to come in and discuss it with the assessor.
   2. You may file a protest with the Board of Equalization which is composed of the three county commissioners and the assessor.  An appeal shall be in writing and the forms to be used for this purpose shall be furnished by the county clerk.  Such appeal shall be lodged with the County Clerk as Secretary of the Board of Equalization before the third Monday in June.
   3. If you are not satisfied with the decision of the Board of Equalization.  You may appeal to the State Tax Commission by September 30th or 30 days after the Board of Equalization's decision, whichever is later.

Exemptions and Credits

• MISSOURI PROPERTY TAX CREDIT (MO-PTC)
  Tax relief for household incomes of $27,000 or less married, $25,000 or less single, or being at least 65 years of age.  Also individuals that are 100% disabled could qualify for relief.
• HOMESTEAD PRESERVATION CREDIT
  Applies a credit to the following calendar years tax bill.  Senior citizens and 100% disabled inidividuals with incomes of $70,000 or below.  Applies a credit for the amount of tax exceeding the 2.5% or 5% increase.

How Does the Assessor Know What Personal Property I Have?
The assessor sends out blank assessment forms in January of each year. It is your responsibility to send a completed form to the assessor by March 1, listing all the taxable personal property you owned January 1. If your form is late, the penalty ranges from $10 to $100, depending on the amount of valuation involved. The assessor may contact you to follow up if the form is not complete.

If you are a new resident of Livingston County or will be as of January 1, be sure and notify the personal property division for a personal property list at 660-646-8000 x.2

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