The Taxman Cometh: Clark County Assessor To Begin Doing Property Reviews

By Mike Scott

Every property owner in Clark County will be receiving a visit in the coming months.

“I’m going to be hitting the field, doing reviews,” said Clark County Assessor Tony Daniel. “So the patrons will be seeing me in a little white Ford pickup.” The vehicle will be marked with signage identifying it as from the Assessor’s office.

“I would appreciate it, if you see me, if you’ll come out and talk to me,” he said.

Missouri Statue 137.130 allows the Assessor or his employees to enter land, without permission, for the purposes of tax assessment. The entire section reads: 137.130. Whenever there shall be any taxable personal property in any county, and from any cause no list thereof shall be given to the assessor in proper time and manner, or whenever the assessor has insufficient information to assess any real property, the assessor or an employee of the assessor shall assess the property based upon a physical inspection or on the best information the assessor can obtain; and for that purpose the assessor or an employee of the assessor shall have lawful right to enter into any lands and make any examination and search which may be necessary to assess such real property only when the assessor is entering because the assessor has insufficient information to assess such real property or to assess such personal property only when the assessor is entering because no list of taxable personal property has been given, and may examine any person upon oath touching the same. The assessor or an employee of the assessor shall not enter the interior of any structure on any real property as part of the inspection to assess such property without permission. The assessor shall list, assess and cause taxes to be imposed upon omitted taxable personal property in the current year and in the event personal property was also subject to taxation in the immediately preceding three years, but was omitted, the assessor shall also list, assess and cause taxes to be imposed upon such property.

Daniel will start his review in the northeast corner of the county near Athens, and sweep through all of Clark County. During bad weather, he will work inside the communities in Clark County.

Daniel will be collecting data make sure his office has the correct information on the Property Record Cards (PRC). Every parcel of real property has a PRC, which contains data that has been accumulated over the years. Through that information, his office will know whether new structures or additions have been made on the property that should be taxed.
“We have to treat everyone fairly,” Daniel said.

He noted that the assessment sheets also have a place to include any additions or changes, but that people don’t always fill that information out.

Assessment changes will be made in 2016, and will appear on the 2017 taxes.

Section 137.075 states what property is liable for taxes. It reads: 137.075. Every person owning or holding real property or tangible personal property on the first day of January, including all such property purchased on that day, shall be liable for taxes thereon during the same calendar year.

Daniel also issued this prepared statement concerning personal property assessments: “The Clark County Assessor’s office will be mailing out personal property forms in the near future. There will be added questions pertaining to crop irrigation systems. Yes, we will start assessing irrigation systems in the year 2016. Every year, a few property owners forget to return their assessment sheets. Please remember there is a penalty of $10 to $100 dollars, depending on the property value, if lists are not returned by March 1. The simple thing to do is, when you receive it, fill it out and return it, because the statutes leave us no discretion to waive the penalties. It would be beneficial to the property owners to make a copy of their assessment sheet after they have it filled out, dated and signed, in case there is a problem in the future.”