House in Rensselaer, In, at the junction of SR#114 and US 231.

 

The address is:

 

           County Assessor, Rm 104

           115 W Washington

           Rensselaer, IN  47978

 

Office hours are Mon-Fri 8 am to 4 pm, central time (Chicago time)

 

For parcel numbers click on GIS data on the Jasper County website.  You will need the

 

property address and/or name of owner.

.

 

                                    ASSESSOR FUNCTIONS

 

The main job of an assessor is to put a value on property for taxing purposes (often

 

the assessor’s office is referred to the office of property valuation).

 

This office will consider all 3 approaches to value, cost, sales or market, and income.

 

Typically, Indiana assessors use the cost approach, including an average depreciation

 

figure supplied  by a state agency, the Department of Local Government Finance

 

(DGLF).  At that point, mass appraisal is applied by comparing sales to assessed values

 

and developing a marketing factor designed to adjust assessed values to 100% of market

 

value (on average).

 

It should be remembered that mass appraisal is different from single property appraisal.

 

In the latter, single property appraisal deals with usually 3 to 6 comparables;  mass

 

appraisal is the valuation of a large group of properties as of a given date, using

 

standard methodologies while allowing for statistical testing.  It relies heavily on

 

statistical measures of central tendency such as mean, median, and mode for

 

valuation functions.

 

                            THE APPEAL PROCESS

 

 

A property owner who feels their valuation is inappropriate should contact this office

 

for an appointment.  Please furnish your name, phone number, and property address.

 

You may call (219-866-4915) night, day or weekend and leave your information on my

 

voice mail.

 

At this point, we should distinguish between property value and taxes.  This office deals

 

with valuation, not taxes.  THEY ARE NOT ONE AND THE SAME.

 

Be prepared to furnish evidence of value.    What this evidence might be is at your

 

discretion.  Organize your evidence in a neat, logical manner that is easy to understand

 

and read.

 

Keep in mind that sale price (SP) is not market value.  SP is price agreed upon by a buyer

 

and seller for reasons of their own.  Market value is the most probable price a property

 

would bring in an arm’s length transaction.

 

         

                                                APPEALS

 

Every property owner has the right to appeal annually to the Property Tax Board of

 

Appeals (PTABOA).  When you appeal, you are asking for a second opinion of value,

 

as the first assessment is usually done by the township assessor.  As a result of the appeal,

 

 a value may decrease, increase, or remain unchanged.