Real Property

If you choose to submit the appeal application provided in your valuation notice, be sure to:

• Answer each question thoroughly.
• Provide your estimate of value.
• Sign the appeal application.
• If using a representative, include a signed authorization form.
• Return your appeal application to the Davis County Tax Administration Office, along with all supporting evidence and documentation, postmarked on or before the September 15th deadline.
• File a separate application for each parcel. If the properties are contiguous and the appeal information is the same, you can file one application for all parcels.

Applications without sufficient documentation to support the opinion of market value will be returned with a request for more evidence. If no further evidence is received, the Board may dismiss the appeal.

Applications with sufficient documentation will be forwarded to the Assessor’s Office for review. Once a decision is reached, the property owner will be notified. If you are dissatisfied with the appraiser’s decision, you can proceed to a hearing where your evidence will be reviewed by an independent third party Hearing Officer.

Example:

• Comparable Sales – Recently sold properties similar to the subject property may effectively indicate the value of the subject property based on the principle of substitution. A good rule of thumb for evaluating the quality of comparable property sales as evidence in an appeal is to consider if potential buyers of those properties would have considered the subject property as a competing listing similar to those that sold. Try to look for sales which closed as close as possible to the tax lien date (January 1).


• Recent Purchase of Subject Property – If the subject property was purchased within 12 months of the lien date the sale of the property should be considered as evidence in an appeal. It is important to remember that a sale that wouldn’t be considered an arm’s length transaction may not be good evidence.


• Recent Appraisal Report – An appraisal of the subject property dated within 12 months of the lien date can be a significant piece of evidence in an appeal.


• Income/Expense Information – If the parcel in question is an income producing property (commercial, industrial and residential 5+ units) the most effective evidence of its value will be income and expense data from the property together with a capitalization rate indicative of market investment demand. This evidence effectively makes a case for what a typical investor would pay for the subject property if it were available on the market.


• Factual Error In Assessor Information – Errors in the description of a subject property maintained by the assessor’s office may result in significant errors in assessments. If the Assessor’s Office has incorrectly listed the square footage of a building on a property or has not correctly considered the legal zoning of a parcel (or if there is any other possible error in assessor data) an appeal with information regarding the error will allow the county to correct their description and assessment of that subject property.

There are two reasons appeals are dismissed or denied.

• Lack of Evidence

  By law, the property owner is required to provide evidence that the county has valued the property higher than the property could be sold for on the open market. If no evidence is provided, the law assumes the county assessment is correct and the appeal is dismissed.

• Inadequate or Poor Evidence

  Property owners often appeal their property value using information that does not show what the appealed property would actually sell for. For example, information for properties that are very dissimilar to the subject property in either physical characteristics or location. Also, distressed sales (short sales, repossessions, etc.) are not typically representative of market value.

The Appeal process can be confusing and intimidating without the proper information and guidance. We are happy to assist you.

For information regarding your property, please contact the Assessor’s Office at 801-451-3250.

For information regarding your appeal, please contact the Clerk/Auditor’s Office at 801-451-3332.

• The assessor is required by Utah Law to list and value all property for "ad valorem" ("according to value") taxation on an assessment roll each year.


• The Lien Date or date of value is January 1. This means that what the property looks like on January 1 is how the property is valued for that tax year. For example, if a house is under construction and is 50% complete on January 1, the tax amount would be 50% of the total market value.


• The assessor’s office is responsible for valuing real property, ensuring the equity of real property values, reviewing Board of Equalization appeals, valuing personal property, and greenbelt

• The Assessor’s Office does not set the tax rate or collect taxes that are due.


• Tax rates are set by taxing entities within each tax district (ie, city, county, school district, water district, etc).


• The Davis County Treasurer’s Office collects and disperses real and personal property taxes.

• Utah has a law called Truth in Taxation. This law is revenue-driven, not rate-driven. When property values rise property tax rates fall. The adjusted rate each year is called the Certified Tax Rate. Certified Tax Rate is that rate which will yield the taxing entity the same property tax revenue that it budgeted in the previous year, excluding new growth. When a taxing entity (city, county, school district, water district, etc.) proposes to increase its property tax revenues above what was budgeted the previous year a public hearing and public notice is required by law. A Truth-in-Taxation hearing allows tax entities to explain reason for the proposed increase and allows the citizens to comment on the proposed increase.

• State law requires that county assessor’s value all taxable properties at market value. Market value is the amount of money that a willing buyer is willing to pay a willing seller. This type of sale between willing buyers and sellers is also called an arm’s length transaction.


• The tax value is a percentage of "fair market value" or "use value" as prescribed by law. Property is assessed as follows: 
  
  • VACANT LAND – 100% of its "fair market value" or "use value"
  
  
  • COMMERCIAL PROPERTY – 100% of "fair market value"
  
  
  • RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY (excluding personal property) – 100% of "fair market value". However, the Utah Constitution allows a residential exemption or reduction in taxable value of 45%. The residential exemption is limited to one primary residence per household. This exception applies to the first acre of land in addition to the residence in the case of a single family property. 
    
    • EXAMPLE: 
      $100,000 (Assessed “Fair Market” Value 
      -$45,000 (Primary Residential Exemption) 
      $55,000 (Taxable Value)

• First the county makes a site visit to each property. This is typically done when a home is being built, or there is a change to the existing structure. The county also regularly re-inspects existing properties throughout the county.


• There are three approaches to value: Sales Comparison, Cost Approach and Income Approach.
  • SALES COMPARISON: The most common approach to valuing residential properties is the sales comparison approach. This method compares your house to others that have sold recently. The appraiser makes adjustments to the sale prices of comparable properties for different variables including but not limited to date of sale, location, size, quality, condition and amenities. The lien date is January 1, so home sales from the previous year are analyzed. The sales are carefully analyzed to determine if they were arms length transactions. An arms length transaction defined as "A sale between a willing buyer and a willing seller that are unrelated and are not acting under duress, abnormal pressure or undue influences, both seeking to maximize their positions from the transaction".
  • COST APPROACH: This method is based on how much money it would take, at current material and labor costs, to replace your property with one similar, plus the cost of the land. Then the appraiser needs to determine how much value has been lost due to depreciation. There are three forms of depreciation: physical depreciation, functional obsolescence, and external obsolescence.
  • INCOME APPROACH : This method uses industry-derived typical market income figures to determine how much income a property should generate and how much it should cost to maintain and operate that particular property. When these values are considered and a net operating income is derived, that figure is then capitalized at a rate based on market data in order to determine the market value for the property being analyzed.
• For More information about the real property, click here

• It is probably in the best interest of property owners to allow the appraiser to inspect the exterior and interior of their property and buildings. This will ensure the accuracy of the property assessment and the fairness of any resulting property taxes. Of course property owners have the right to refuse access to Assessor Office personnel. If access is refused, the appraiser will estimate the value of the property using whatever information they have available.

• Newspapers often publish sales data in a summary format for large areas, such as by zip code, by city or by county. This information can show general trends in the market. However, these trends should not be compared to the percentage change in your January 1 assessed value. One reason for this is that the time period can fluctuate for the reporting of the data. The assessment office primarily relies on sales during the past calendar year within precise areas and of properties that are more similar in nature to your property.

• The Davis County Assessor’s Office prides itself on maintaining accurate real estate data as the basis of the assessments for all property owners. Please notify us immediately if you note an error in our description of your property by sending an Email or by calling 801-451-3250.

• Valuation notices are mailed out to property owners on approximately July 23rd. If you do not receive yours, please call the Davis County Auditor’s Office at 801-451-3329. The deadline to file an appeal is either 45 days after the notice is mailed or September 15th, whichever is later. The deadline is displayed on the valuation notice.