Assessor

Assessor

Notice: The Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) meet on Thursday afternoons, as needed. For exact dates contact the County Assessor’s office.

The County Assessor is a statutory office.  The purpose of the Assessor’s office is to determine the assessed True Tax Value of property in the county and certify those values to the county Auditor.

Per Indiana Code Title 6, the Assessor’s office uses modern Computed Aided Mass Appraisal (CAMA) software and State Cost Tables to establish the initial assessment.   IC 6-1.1-4-4.5 established the need to apply an annual adjustment based on local sales of Real Property.

Taxpayers may file an appeal with the County Assessor to challenge the value placed on their property.

The Assessor does no​t establish the tax rate, only the assessed value of the property.  The Assessor’s Office does not participate in the tax billing process except as to provide the first number of the calculations; the True Tax Value.

**Assessed values in Indiana are established 1 year prior to the Tax Bill being received.

The primary duties of the County Assessor are to:

• Oversee the reassessment of all real property by visiting each parcel once every 4 years.
• Collect data on all real and personal property located within the county.
• Perform annual trending to balance all real property assessments with the current market.
• Conduct the reassessment of all business/agriculture personal property on an annual basis.
• Certify assessed values to the county auditor. {IC 6-1.1-4-24}
• Serve as the secretary of the County Property Tax Board of Appeals [PTABOA] {IC 61.1-28-1}, the entity that hears all property tax assessment appeals within the county. Property Tax Exemptions for Non-Profit entities are also reviewed for approval by the PTABOA.
• Select the assessment computer system [CAMA] used by all the assessing officials in the county.
• Discover and assess property not part of the public record. {i.e. Building Permits}
• Equalize assessments in the county.
• Conduct reviews and establish Land Values for assessments. [Ag. Land rates are established by the State.

Legislation adopted by the 1997 General Assembly rearranged some of the assessing duties of the county assessors, township assessors and township trustee/assessors, giving county assessors some additional authority and responsibilities.  The same legislation also reformulated the county board of review and renamed it the county property tax board of appeals.

The county assessor works closely with the Department of Local Government Finance [DLGF], which adopts the rules for assessing of property in Indiana.  The DLGF provides the guidelines and rules for property assessments.  [See Real Property Assessment Guidelines manual updated regularly.]

(Generally see IC 36-2-15, for duties of the county assessors.)