Glossary of Appraisal Terms

Ad valorem
According to value

Ag use
Land devoted to the production of plants, animals or horticultural products regardless of whether it is located in the unincorporated area of the county or within the corporate limits of a city.

Appraised value (Market value)
The 100 percent value of property. Market value is defined as the amount of money a well-informed buyer would pay and a well-informed seller would accept for property in an open and competitive market without any outside influence.

Assessment
The act, process or an instance of estimating the value of property for taxation.

Assessment date
The date as of which the assessments for a tax year are made. In Kansas that date is January 1.

Assessment percentage
The percentage that is multiplied against the appraised value of property to arrive at the assessed value.

Assessed value
Appraised value times assessment percentage. The value on which money needed for local government services, special assessments and public schools is allocated among property owners.

Mill levy
One mill is one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value. The mill levy for local governing bodies is determined by dividing the local government's budget by the taxable assessed value in the district.

Modeling-market models cost models income models
The detailed study of the relationship between the amount paid by the buyer of property and the various characteristics that make up the property. This set of relationships is then used to predict the most probable selling price for property not yet on the market. The simplest example is, noting that in the newspaper ads a pound of ground beef is selling from $0.95 to $1.05 checking receipts and finding other buyers averaged $1.00 per pound for their purchases and expecting to pay about $1.00 per pound for the meat you purchase.

Personal property
Every tangible thing which is the subject of ownership that is not classified as real property.

Real property
Land and all buildings, fixtures, improvements, etc.

Rendition

Rendition is the form used by the taxpayer to list all personal property owned or in his control as of January 1; must be submitted annually to the county appraiser.

Tax district
The geographic area that a local governing body provides services to and has taxing authority over.

Tax roll
The list of all taxable property. It includes the name of the owner, the assessed value, the mill levy and the property tax.