Mission
The Assessor’s Office serves the taxpayers of the City by valuing and classifying real estate property in an accurate, ethical, equitable and defensible manner as prescribed by state law.
Vision
The Assessor's Office is a customer service driven department with a professional and responsive staff working together to deliver accurate, impartial and understandable valuations and classifications to taxpayers and elected officials. The Assessor’s Office will be recognized as: technologically innovative, having talented, high-performing and engaged employees, committed to continuous process improvement and committed to the right actions for the right reasons. It is an authority on assessment practices and a partner in providing information to support financial and values-based decision making.
Values
The Assessor’s Office values the public’s trust and earns that trust by providing high quality customer service and implementing the property tax laws and programs in a professional, accurate and consistent methodology.
What we do
- Assessors value and classify real estate property according to assessment standards set by the State of Minnesota. An assessor conducts both individual and mass appraisals of real estate property.
- Assessors study construction, sales data, and neighborhood trends to establish valuation benchmarks in their appraisal work. Property values, which include the land and buildings, change continuously with changing market conditions and changes in physical attributes. Many factors are considered in estimating the market value of property.
- Assessors determine the classification or use of each property. The various classifications are taxed at different percentages or rates according to Minnesota Statutes.