Real Property

All real property subject to taxation is assessed as of January 1 at 12.01 am.

What is real property? All land, buildings, fixtures, improvements, mobile homes, mineral interests, and all privileges pertaining to real property.

How is my real property valued? Real property is valued using any or all of the following three approaches; cost approach, sales approach, income approach. Most real estate is primarily valued on a large-scale method called mass appraisal. The value is based on current costs to replace the property minus accumulated depreciation. This is an efficient and fair method for determining the values of land and homes when being performed on a large amount of properties. The market approach involves the analysis of comparable sales or using market value. Market value is the actual value in dollars of the property if it were sold on the open market. Assessed value is a percentage of the market value and is determined by the classification of the property. The Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission governs the assessment levels applied to real property. Residential property is assessed at 92-100% of its market value, commercial property is assessed at 92-100% of its market value; agricultural property is assessed at 74-80% of its market value.

When is my property reassessed? State law requires assessor's throughout the state to review all the real property liable for taxes every year and it is recommend to reassess all real property every 5 years. This is a large undertaking, but keeps property assessments consistent with the actual events that are occurring in the open real estate market for Frontier County. A change in real estate value may also be due to a physical change to the property, or because only a portion of the property was assessed the previous year and the full value is applied upon completion of new construction and/or occupancy.

Is there an appeal process? If you feel the current assessor's value is out of line, first call the Assessor's Office and review the information on file to see if it accurately represents your property. If, after discussing your property valuation with the Assessor's Office, you are still not satisfied, you may contact to the Frontier County Board of Equalization (BOE) upon receiving a valuation change notice and prior to June 30^th. This may be accomplished by calling the County Clerk's Office at (308) 367-8641.

Is there any tax relief available? For senior citizens and 100% disabled persons, there is a state administered program set up to assist with the burden of real estate taxes. You can learn more information by clicking on the link to homestead exemptions.

Who is responsible for report any improvements made to real property? It is the duty of the owner of real property to report on or before December 31 to the assessor any improvement made to real property amounting to a value of $2,500 or more on an information statement (obtained from Assessor’s office) or building permit (obtained from city manager) or a zoning permit (obtained from Clerk’s office).