Tax Assessments - What is?

Okay, I understand Taxes, but not Tax Assessments.

Example…

A property I’m looking at has annual taxes of $4700.

But their is also a TAX ASSESSMENT of $3000.

What does that mean? Is a TAX ASSESSMENT money that’s owed from Taxes from a previous year?

No…a tax assessment is the tax authority’s determination of what a property is worth for the purpose of collecting taxes. In a lot of places assessments are only done only every 4 or 5 years. Here in the tax district that I just moved into, the assessments are done every two years. The assessors determine what they think each property is worth and then, depending upon who much $$$ neds to be raised to run the government, a “millage rate” is determined. The millage rate multiplied by the assessed value equals the tax due. In a lot of ploaces, they leave the assessments alone for several years and just adjust the millage rate to collect the taxes required.

Clear as mud?

Keith