Assessor
The assessment process plays an important role in local government. Equitable assessments assure property owners that they are asked to pay only their fair share of the cost of operating libraries, schools, police protection and other necessary services.
Property characteristics and other necessary information is stored, updated, and maintained for current and future use in the assessment process.
The purpose of the appraisals generated by the Salt Lake County Assessor’s office is to estimate the market value for ad valorem tax purposes only. The effective date of the appraisals is January 1 of each year.
"Market Value" is defined as the most probable sale price of a property in terms of money in a competitive and open market, assuming that the buyer and seller are acting prudently and knowledgeably, allowing sufficient time for the sale, and assuming that the transaction is not affected by undue pressures.
Once market values have been calculated based on information gathered by the property appraisers, the values are analyzed to determine how accurate and equitable they are. The appraiser does not create market value. The buying and selling of property by the general public establishes the value of property in the real estate marketplace.
A comparison of assessments to sales prices is performed to measure the levels and uniformity of assessments. Sales ratio studies by neighborhood, type of property and other characteristics are performed on a regular basis to assure uniformity of values.
If the taxpayer should disagree with the original value or other action of the assessor, they must file a written appeal with the Board of Equalization.
The Salt Lake County Assessor’s Office accepts information from property owners concerning property characteristics all year long and taxpayers are invited to review/discuss their specific property information with an appraiser.
Property owners who appeal during the Board of Equalization are encouraged to perform careful research and submit copies of evidence during each step of the appeal process.
The county has an inventory of sales that have occurred and the latest are stored on the CAMA (computer assisted mass appraisal) records. This data is collected through numerous sources some of which include deeds, sales letters to buyer and seller and in many cases telephone, contact, or personal visits.
Truth in Taxation Notices which contain the value and estimated taxes that value will generate are mailed annually to property owners and instructions to file an appeal are included in that notice.