Real Property Appraisal
State law requires that assessors appraise all taxable property within the county at 100% of its true and fair market value, according to the highest and best use of the property. Fair market value, or true value, is the amount of money that a willing and unobligated buyer is willing to pay a willing and unobligated seller.
In San Juan County, this means that the Assessor’s Office appraises approximately 20,000 real property parcels on an annual basis.
Types of Real Property
All real property, commonly known as real estate, is assessed. Real property is defined as land and any permanent structures attached to it. Some examples of real property are houses, gas stations, office buildings, vacant land, motels, apartment buildings, restaurants, etc.
By State law, the Assessor's Office must continually update property characteristic data to reflect changes brought about by new construction, new parcels, remodeling, demolition, and other changes. The Assessor's Office receives information on active building permits from Community Development.
The Assessor's Office performs on-site inspections of parcels with new constructions on an annual basis.
Sales data collected by the Assessor's Office increases accuracy in property valuation and equity in taxation of similar properties.
The Assessor's Office reviews each parcel sold in San Juan County. The purpose of the review is to gain information regarding the nature of the sale and the characteristics of the property. The Assessor's Office uses only the sales between an unobligated buyer and seller to be part of its sales data collection.
If you sold or purchased property in San Juan County, you may receive a questionnaire about the nature of the sale. Your response to the questionnaire becomes part of the Assessor's Office sales data collection.
NOTE: For the appraised value of your property in the current year, the Assessor's Office uses sales data from the prior year. In other words, 2016 sales data is one of the factors used to calculate your 2017 appraised value.
Annual Revaluation of Property
Whether or not you sold your property or had new construction on your property, the Assessor's Office will revalue your property every year.
The Assessor's Office performs an on-site inspection of your property once every six years. All other properties not physically inspected are statistically updated to determine the appraised value.
Change of Value Notice
If your appraised property value changes, you will receive a Change of Value Notice that lists the old and new appraised value of land and structures.
NOTE: If your appraised property value did NOT change, you will NOT receive a Change of Value Notice from the Assessor's Office. To obtain the most recent certified appraised value, please click here and enter your Property ID (4 - 5) digits or your Tax Parcel Number (12 digits).