NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County Appraiser Michael Plank wants his office to assess everyone's property as accurately as possible, because then everyone will pay what they should, by law.
"We like to have our data as correct as possible," Plank said. "The better our data is, the better of a product that we can put out. The minimum inspection requirement is once every six years. You can get exceptions from the state and Reno County actually does have one where we can utilize aerial photography and things like that in lieu of an inspection. It's obviously better, you can get a better idea of the overall condition of a property, things like that just just from a from a quick walk around. Hey if somebody's home, we'll knock on the doors if somebody's home. We love to talk to people, too, and just confirm the data that we have on record and if we need to make changes then we'll take that opportunity to make any changes."
It is easier to have accurate data in the zoned areas of the county.
"We do get permits and things like that from cities and other jurisdictions," Plank said. "In the in the unzoned areas, I mean it's just simple, we have to literally drive around or utilize the aerial photography or something to look for things that are different and then add them to the tax roll or to take them off the tax roll in some cases, or whatever we need to do with them."
You are not legally required to tell the appraiser what changes you have made to real estate, but if you buy assessable personal property like a boat, you are required to tell them that.
"If you have a boat or a mobile home or a golf cart or an ATV, UTV or a trailer that is on the personal property roll and you sell it, let us know so we can take it off the tax roll for you for next year," Plank said. "If you don't, you're gonna keep getting tax bills and just ignoring them because you know, I don't own this anymore is not the way to handle that and it just it makes things more complicated to get them off the tax roll."
If you have questions for the appraiser's office, give them a call at (620) 694-2915.