Why did my assessment change if I haven't made any changes to my property?
State legislators passed a law (IC 6-1.1- 4- 4.5)effective in 2006 requiring assessors to annually adjust the assessed value of real property to account for changes in value. This is called trending and it is calculated based on sales in your "neighborhood" or area during the two years preceding the assessment date (2004 & 2005).
"Neighborhood" as defined by the Real Property Assessment Manual,:
A geographical area exhibiting a high degree of homogeneity in residential amenities,
land use, economic and social trends, and housing characteristics
If you feel your assessed value is more than what you could sell your property for and you can provide evidence to substantiate this, please bring the evidence to the appropriate Assessor's office in the County Office Building, 20 N 3rd Street:
|
County Assessor |
2nd Floor |
Phone (765) 423-9255 |
| Fairfield Assessor |
3rd Floor |
Phone (765) 423-9361 |
| Wabash Assessor |
3rd Floor |
Phone (765) 423-9281 |
| Wea Assessor |
3rd Floor |
Phone (765) 423-9279 |
What kind of evidence do I need to provide?
The Indiana Tax Court has repeatedly stated that the most effective documentation is a professional appraisal.
Additional market data that may be relevant in establishing your case include:
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Sales comparison information (sales of similar homes in your area)(Per Indiana Tax Court, unless the properties are truly "identical" the taxpayer must account for any differences between the homes)
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Sale data (closing statement) from the sale of the subject property. However, if the sale is a tax sale, estate sale, distress sale, exempt sale or in any way does not represent market value, the sale information is unlikely to be deemed "probative" (serving for trial as proof).
Best Appeal Documentation:
IC 6-1.1-4-4.5
Annual adjustment of assessed value of real property; state review and certification; base rate methodology
Sec. 4.5. (a) The department of local government finance shall adopt rules establishing a system for annually adjusting the assessed value of real property to account for changes in value in those years since a general reassessment of property last took effect.
(b) Subject to subsection (e), the system must be applied to adjust assessed values beginning with the 2006 assessment date and each year thereafter that is not a year in which a reassessment becomes effective.
(c) The rules adopted under subsection (a) must include the following characteristics in the system:
(1) Promote uniform and equal assessment of real property within and across classifications.
(2) Require that assessing officials:
(A) reevaluate the factors that affect value;
(B) express the interactions of those factors mathematically;
(C) use mass appraisal techniques to estimate updated property values within statistical measures of accuracy; and
(D) provide notice to taxpayers of an assessment increase that results from the application of annual adjustments.
(3) Prescribe procedures that permit the application of the adjustment percentages in an efficient manner by assessing officials.
(d) The department of local government finance must review and certify each annual adjustment determined under this section.
(e) In making the annual determination of the base rate to satisfy the requirement for an annual adjustment under subsection (a), the department of local government finance shall determine the base rate using the methodology reflected in Table 2-18 of Book 1, Chapter 2 of the department of local government finance's Real Property Assessment Guidelines (as in effect on January 1, 2005), except that the department shall adjust the methodology to use a six (6) year rolling average instead of a four (4) year rolling average.
As added by P.L.198-2001, SEC.8. Amended by P.L.245-2003, SEC.4; P.L.228-2005, SEC.4.
