SOLON — Home owners across Johnson County, and across the state, have recently had a shock as they opened the latest property assessment from their county auditor’s office and saw a significant increase.
In an effort to set the record straight, a series of questions was sent to Johnson County Assessor Tom Van Buer.
Q: Could you please explain what the assessment actually is/means to a property owner, and any difference between the assessed value and maybe what the market would support if they were to sell their house?
A: “Iowa is a 100% value state, so our assessment should be what you could sell your house for in today’s real estate market.”
Q: How is the assessment made by your office?
A: “We change values by neighborhood based on the sales that happen in that neighborhood. A neighborhood could be defined as a subdivision, a portion of town, an entire city or township.”
Q: Why have assessments skyrocketed?
A: “Every odd year, we are required to value property based on what happens in the real estate market in the previous calendar year. So, our 2023 assessments are based on the sales that occurred between 1/1/2022 and 12/31/2022. Every property that sells, we calculate a sales ratio, which is our assessed value divided by the sales price. We determine the median sales ratio for the county. Las year, based on approximately 1,400 residential sales, our median ratio was 81.46%. This means our assessments are 18.54% below what they are selling for. By law, our ratio needs to be between 95% and 100%.
Q: What impact, if any, will these increased assessments have on property taxes?
A: “Property taxes are calculated using three numbers. Taxes = Assessed Value X Assessment Limitation X Tax Rate.
At this point we only know what your assessed value is. The assessment limitation will come out in December. We estimate this to go from the current 54.6501% down to 46.5%. The tax rate will not come out until next summer, and they typically stay pretty stable.”
Q: How can people make an appeal if they look at their new (and much higher) value and shake their head in abject disbelief?
A: “If you do not think you could sell your house for the value we put on it, you should call our office at 319-356-6078 between now and Tuesday, April 25 to speak to us about your assessment. Our office is open Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. You also have the opportunity to file an appeal with the Board of Review until Monday, May 1.”
Q: Anything else people need to know regarding their assessments/valuation/tax liability?
A: “We know values increased a lot. They increased because of what people are buying and selling houses for in Johnson County.”
Additional information can be found on the Assessor’s website at https://johnsoncountyiowa.gov/department-of-county-assessor
Shock and awe
April 13, 2023