Appraiser

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Appraisal Department Overview: 

The Appraiser’s Office discovers, inspects, evaluates, and values both real estate and taxable personal property (business equipment, mobile homes, trucks, trailers, non-highway vehicles, watercraft, ATV’s, mopeds, golf carts, oil wells, etc.) in the county each year for ad valorem tax purposes.    

While we’re employed by Linn County, we answer to the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Property Valuation Division (PVD). PVD provides the rules, regulations, appraisal methods, and educational standards for our work. In addition, they monitor, audit, and test our work throughout the year.

The market values we utilize on real estate are the result of an annual appraisal cycle consisting of on-site property reviews, analysis of property sales, collection of market data, market studies, and statistical analysis. When valuing personal property, the County follows the guidelines and procedures that are issued by PVD annually. However, PVD is responsible for the annual valuation of public utility property and issues the agricultural use values to the County for land that is classified as agricultural.

In addition to setting values for real estate and taxable personal property, our office holds real estate and personal property appeals each year. The Informal appeal hearings and Payment Under Protest appeals are held in our office, while the Small Claims and Board of Tax Appeals hearings are more formal courtroom-type hearings.

The valuation cycle starts immediately after certification of the current year’s values (May/June) and ends once we have held property appeals and certified values to the County Clerk’s Office (May/June the next year). 

The work we do is just the starting point for the development of each year’s property taxes. Once we certify our values to the County Clerk’s Office, they, in turn, calculate an assessed valuation for all taxing units, calculate mill levies and certify the tax roll to the Treasurer’s Office. The Treasurer’s Office then mails property tax bills, processes payments of the property taxes and distributes the collected funds to the appropriate local units of government, school districts, and state government.

Mission Statement:

Our mission is to provide uniform, fair and equitable values among all classes of property for ad valorem purposes in a manner that assures public confidence and is guided by the goals of quality customer service, while providing a work environment that encourages staff’s professional and personal growth.

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