Clay County Treasurer Bob Nance announced that valuation notices have been sent out to Clay County residents for property re-assessment. Property values have skyrocketed recently and residents of the county are probably seeing an increase in property value for tax purposes.

Nance says that If you believe there is an error in the re-assessment you can appeal.

Re-assessment is the process that helps to validate that real property is valued at current market value. All real property in Clay County is valued with uniform and consistent procedures following Missouri Revised Statutes - Chapter 137. Over time the value of property changes due to market conditions, location, condition of property, and other physical and economic factors. Some property values change more rapidly than others. Reassessment identifies changes in market value, along with property condition to determine current market value.

The Assessor's Office, on the date of assessment, is assigned the task of assessing or valuing real property at Market Value.

The Assessor’s Office continually collects and researches sales and lease data, income and expense data, along with other market factors when appraising the current market value of real property. An important point to remember is that the Assessor Office does not create market value; it analyzes the transactions of buyers and sellers to help determine property values during the reassessment process. It is buyers and sellers that determine the levels of property value with arm’s length sales transactions in the market place. Collected sales data is used to determine your properties current market value.

Once appraised values have been calculated based on information gathered by appraisers, the values are analyzed to determine how accurate and equitable they are. The Assessor's Office staff compares assessments to sales prices to determine ratios, which are then used to measure the level and uniformity of assessments. Sales ratio studies by neighborhood, type of property, and other criteria are performed regularly to assure uniformity of values.

If you feel your assessment value is incorrect and you wish to appeal, more information the appeals process can be found here.

KPGZ News - Jim Dickerson contributed to this story