This year, National Assessor’s Day is Tuesday, September 24. The International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) encourages the public and industry partners to celebrate the importance and value of assessors.
Assessors (hired/appointed) and listers (appointed/elected) are government officials who determine the value of real and personal property for property taxation purposes. Jurisdictions use the revenue raised from property taxes to provide law enforcement, fire services, education, road construction, and many other services that benefit their communities.
Assessing officers are trained to determine the fair market value of property, which is the price that would be agreed upon between a willing and informed buyer and a willing and informed seller in an arms-length sale.
IAAO members are committed to providing fair and equitable property valuation assessments. Valuation disparity is an assessment, legislative, political, and educational issue. Therefore, IAAO believes that all parties must work together to identify any issues that currently exist and to prevent disparities from occurring in the future.
IAAO and its affiliates – the Northeastern Regional Association of Assessing Officers (NRAAO) and the Vermont Assessors and Listers Association (VALA) – believe the following are cornerstones of providing fair and equitable property assessments:
- Appraising properties on a regular basis to determine fair market value.
- Following IAAO technical standards on assessment and office operations.
- Allocating adequate resources to jurisdictions to carry out the assessing function in accordance with best practices.
- Providing assessors and assessing staff with training and ongoing professional development.
IAAO technical standards are intended to guide property tax assessment officials, tax policy analysts, and administrators.
Public trust in the performance of assessors and listers is the foundation of their credibility and jurisdictions. Therefore, they follow IAAO’s Code of Ethics, which
- requires members to embrace the highest ethical principles and
- states that the pursuit of excellence, accountability, transparency, inclusivity, and responsiveness must be integral to members' behavior.
National Assessors Day reflects the value that assessors and listers bring to their community by helping to fairly determine property values which help fund government services. It takes place on the last Tuesday of every September.