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December 30, 2003 The Honorable Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. As required by Section 2-202 of the Tax-Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, I am pleased to submit the Department of Assessments and Taxation’s 2003 Assessment Ratio Report. This report measures the quality of real property assessments in each of Maryland’s 24 counties. Uniform and accurate assessments are the foundation of fair property taxation. Maryland’s Constitution requires that all real property subject to property taxation be assessed uniformly. State law requires that assessments be based on the fair market value of the property. Therefore, uniformity and market value are the standards used to measure the quality of the assessment work performed by the Department. This report measures assessment quality by looking at the most recent reassessment program and comparing the results of that effort to actual market conditions. Because state law requires that one-third of all real property be reassessed each year, the Department’s program resulted in approximately 692,000 reassessment notices being issued in late December of 2002. These reassessments reflected our estimates of property values as of January 1, 2003. To provide an objective quality measure of that work, this report tests those reappraisal results against property sales for the 12 month period of July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003. The Department has adopted the national standards for measuring property assessment quality as outlined by the International Association of Assessing Officers. Those national standards, as well as our compliance with those standards, are discussed in the body of this report. The data show that Maryland has excellent assessment uniformity, and that properties throughout the State continue to sell at prices close to the Department’s values. I hope that you find this report useful and informative. Please feel free to share with me any suggestions that you may have to improve this report or the assessment process in Maryland. Sincerely,
30-DEC-03 |