Market Value and Property Taxes
Property taxes are paid to fund local services and improvements. Property tax money is used for community services such as: police, fire, recreational services, infrastructure, social services, and education.
Property Tax Determination
The City of Roseau Assessor determines a fair market value for a homeowner's property. Minnesota State law requires the assessor to physically review property at least once every four years. Residential market values are based on the price that is paid for housing. Establishing a fair and equitable market value ensures the homeowner is paying a fair share of the total property tax burden, regardless of what the total tax burden is.
Minnesota state law determines how the total tax will be distributed among the various types of property in the state - such as apartment, commercial/industrial, and residential property. Due to the fact that there are always changes in the property tax laws, the tax burden may shift from year to year. The actual dollar that one pays in property tax is determined by the amount of money that is needed to fund local services. Changes in the city's property tax base, special property classifications, state mandates, and other statutory requirements (fiscal disparities and tax increment financing) affect the actual dollar amount of property tax paid.
The function of the City Assessor is to accurately and equitably value and classify all real estate in the City so that the tax base can be determined. All real property includes residential homes, town homes, condominiums, apartments, commercial and industrial property, and vacant land. All assessors must be licensed and certified by the Minnesota State Board of Assessors. Certification requires experience and educational requirements through the University of Minnesota, International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), the Minnesota Association of Assessing Officers (MAAO), and other organizations offering assessing related courses. In addition to certification and licensing, commercial an industrial assessors must be accredited or complete additional courses in commercial and industrial appraising.
State law requires that:
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The values are placed at 100% of the market value as determined by annual State Department of Revenue sale surveys.
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Each property in the City must be reviewed and reappraised at least every four years.
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The property must be properly classified: homestead, non-homestead, taxable, exempt, apartment, industrial, etc..
Assessor's Review of Property
Under Minnesota Statute 273.08, the assessor is required to review each property at least once every four years. The appraiser may visit your property at shorter intervals for any of the following reasons:
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To review new construction as a result of a permit. The assessor may stop by each year until all of the work is completed.
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To complete a review assessment for an appeal, such as a tax petition.
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To review the property at the owner's request.
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To review the property at any time the assessor believes that the property information may be in error and/or incorrect value may have been placed on the property.
A typical assessment visit will take approximately 10 minutes. The assessor will not immediately be able to provide a homeowner the new value of the property after the assessment. The assessor collects and verifies all of the necessary information required to value a property. Values are not calculated until January of each year. The homeowner will receive a value notice in February or March of the following year.
Questions about your property taxes
If a homeowner thinks that property taxes are too high, one may want to discuss concerns with the City Council, School Board Member, County Commissioner, State Representative or State Senator. Public comments are also welcome at the City, County and School District budget hearings. These hearings are held each year in November and December.
Questions about your market value
If you have any comments or questions about your property valuation please contact the Roseau County Assessor or the City of Roseau Assessor. Many property owner's concerns can be explained or resolved over the phone. If the assessor cannot resolve the problem, one can appeal to the Local Board of Review, the Roseau County Board of Equalization, or the Minnesota Tax Court. Information about these methods of appeal is outlined on the property value notice received each year in March or April.
All property information and assessing records are maintained at the Roseau County Courthouse by the Roseau County Assessor.
Roseau County Assessor: (463-1861)
Special Assessments
In areas of the city that have received new infrastructure, such as water mains, sewer mains, or new streets, home and business owners may find "special assessments" listed on their tax statement. Special assessments are not taxes, even though they are collected by Roseau County along with property taxes. Instead, these assessments represent the adjacent property owners portion of infrastructure improvement costs. Therefore special assessments are not dependant upon property values or governmental operational revenue needs. These special assessments are simply infrastructure development costs which are financed by the city and typically paid back by adjacent property owners over at 10-30 year timeframe. Interest rates for special assessments are typically determined by the City's cost or the interest rate of the bonds or borrowing done by the City for the improvement plus 1-2% to cover losses (typically 6-8% total).
Prior to the City undertaking any improvement for which it anticipates utilizing assessments for project costs it must first notify and undertake public hearings to inform affected residents and property owners of the project.
City Budget
Each year the city sets a preliminary budget for operations in the next year. This preliminary budget is established in September and each property owner is sent a preliminary tax statement based upon the preliminary budget which cannot be raised, only lowered. After a public budget hearing the city sets its final budget in December for the next fiscal year beginning on January 1. The budget accounts for the General Fund and Debt Service Fund of the City. In addition, the City operates 5 Enterprises (Water Enterprise, Sewer Enterprise, Electrical Enterprise, Garbage Enterprise, and the Liquor Store Enterprise) for which budgets are annually determined. The Enterprises are generally self-sustaining operations which provide operating funds to cover operating expenses, meaning there are generally no tax dollars utilized to cover costs for these operations. In addition, excess revenues from City Enterprises are held in reserve or transferred to the General Fund to help pay for general city operations.
The 2005 City Budget for the General Fund was as follows:
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