By law, a representative of the Kingfisher County Assessor’s Office must perform a visual inspection of every property in the county every four years.

Those field appraisers are currently undergoing those visual inspections inside the Kingfisher Public Schools district.

County Assessor Carrie Turner wants to make the public aware of all the inspections entail, what is and isn’t allowed by her offi ce’s appraisers and where your taxes go.

What the Assessor’s Office Does

The duties and responsibilities of the county assessor is to discover, list and maintain records of each piece of real and personal property in the county.

Real property includes land and buildings.

Personal property includes business furniture, fixtures, equipment, inventory as well as farm machinery and equipment.

“We determine the fair cash value annually for homes, businesses and other taxable property,” Turner said.

The effective date of appraisals is Jan. 1 of every year.

Why Visual Inspections?

They’re required by law and, as stated above, each property must be visually inspected every four years.

“This means to come onto your property and photograph to meet the requirements of the Oklahoma Tax Commission,” Turner said.

“We must then notify the property owners of any increase in the fair cash value of their property.”

The assessor’s office assists taxpayers in filing homestead exemptions and affidavits for property that is exempt under state law.

It’s also the job of the office to resolve questions or protests about the valuations.

“We want to get it right,” Turner said. “We are here to represent the taxpayer, not to tax them. And sometimes we may get a measurement wrong, so we want to work with people and make sure we get it right.”

Once finalized, the values are computed into ad valorem taxes.

“Every county in the state uses the exact same formula for figuring those taxes,” Turner said.

The formula consists of taking assessed value and multiplying it by the county rate (11%) and then multiplied again by the corresponding school district’s mill levy.

That final number is the property owner’s annual taxes.

From there, the office prepares the assessment roll and delivers it to the Kingfisher County Board of Equalization for approval. Once approved, the tax is delivered to the Kingfisher County Treasurer’s Office for collection.

“All of our work undergoes compliance checks by the Oklahoma Tax Commission,” said Turner.

Where the Tax Dollars Go Of the money collected by the treasurer’s office, a majority of it goes to local schools.

Public school districts and CareerTechs such as Chisholm Trail Technology Center receive just over 83% of ad valorem taxes.

Broken down, 54% goes toward a school’s general fund, 6.8% toward its building fund and 13.8% toward its sinking fund. Another 6.9% goes toward the CareerTech’s general fund and 1.7% toward its building fund.

As for the rest of the ad valorem taxes, 13.8% is set aside for the county general fund, 2.8% for the county health department and 0.2% toward emergency medical services.

What Are the Assessor and Deputies Allowed (or Not Allowed) To Do?

According to state tax code under Title 68 (Revenue and Taxation), the county assessor or authorized deputies have the power and authority to: “Go upon any premises and enter any business building or structure and view the same and the property therein, and to view, inspect or appraise any property located within his county, however, the county assessor shall not have the power or authority to enter the private dwelling of a taxpayer except as provided for in subsection D of this section.”

Subsection D reads: “In the event of a dispute concerning the valuation of household personal property, a taxpayer may request the county assessor to perform a visual inspection of such property.”

And, if there are disputes, Turner said she wants taxpayers to discuss them with her office and references the mission statement: “To fairly and equitably value all property in Kingfisher County in accordance with the laws and regulations of the State of Oklahoma.”

Appraisers are Clearly Marked/Identified

Turner wants to assure her deputies remain as safe as possible while also not alarming residents as they complete their lawful tasks.

“We have a vehicle that is clearly marked and they wear shirts that identify them and they have a badge,” Turner said.

Appraisers have shirts that say “Kingfisher County Assessor’s Office” on the front and “FIELD APPRAISER” on the back.

Appraisers will knock on doors prior to beginning their work and if no one answers, they’ll leave a door hanger.

Turner said they are unable to alert property owners before they make their appraisals.

“We do not make appointments unless we need more information from the property owner,” Turner said.

While Turner understands that not everyone will be happy with the potential of their taxes going up, she asks that property owners understand that appraisers are only assessing the value…not actually raising the taxes.

“Please be mindful that they’re just doing their job in this hot weather,” she said.