Letter: Assessors Office is looking in your backyard
It’s that time of year, the Carson City Assessors Office has mailed out the 2023 Tax Assessment Roll. Did you notice a big increase? The Assessors Office has been in the process of reappraising the city. This includes the use of high resolution aerial photography.
This extremely detailed imagery includes an oblique view, giving them nearly 45 degrees of view of your property. They use these photos to inspect your property from above (yes even your backyard) to determine if there has been a change to the property. They then update your tax roll accordingly.
There is much debate regarding privacy concerns using this technology. This reader experienced this first hand. The Assessors Office made a taxable use change to one of our buildings and did not notify us of this change. When I spoke with the Assessors Office about this, they said coming in to discuss the change is the first step. You can speak with the office to discuss what changes were made.
If there is an error they will send an appraiser to your property for an inspection. If you and the office are unable to get a resolution, you must file an appeal with the County Board of Equalization. But time is of the essence! You only have until January 15th to file an appeal. I strongly recommend visiting the Assessors office before the end of the year, as they may be busy. If you must file an appeal, the Assessor has the forms available in the office. If you would like to see the appraisal done by the department, they will upon request furnish within 15 days the most recent appraisal. If you would like more information on how this system works, visit nevadataxpayers.org or your Assessors Office website.