Residential Real Property

Jefferson County Property Valuation Administrator’s duties are to discover, list and value all properties within the county.  Property not exempted from taxation is to be assessed for taxation at its fair cash value, estimated at the price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale. The PVA is charged with assessing all property equitably and accurately.

The Residential Department is staffed with well trained deputies that review over 32,000 transfers of residential properties to search for “valid arm’s-length transactions” (valid sales); used in the analysis of the neighborhoods established by the residential research and development staff.  The Residential Department compares the ratio of sale properties to existing properties.

A team of field inspectors locate new and existing properties, measure the structures using American National Standard Institute (ANSI standards), gather property characteristics, sketch the structures, photograph the properties, and return data to the Residential Department.  The PVA Field Representatives have the legal right to measure the exterior dimensions of a structure in the absence of the owner, but do not enter the property owner’s home.  Assisting the Field Representatives will eliminate the need to estimate the finished area, number of bathrooms, and other characteristics of the home.

All Jefferson County PVA Field Representatives carry signed identification badges and wear shirts with the PVA logo.  If you have a question about a Field Representative, please call the PVA office at 574-6380.

It is necessary to prepare value estimates for large number of properties at a specific point in time each year; a process called computer assisted mass appraisal (CAMA), which uses Automated Valuation Models.  This CAMA system utilizes the cost approach and is adjusted per the sales in the neighborhood as assigned by the Residential Research Staff.  The CAMA system is monitored by the staff to check for quality, depreciation, and location adjustments.

A performance analysis determines whether values are equitable and consistent with the market.  In mass appraisal, the primary tool for analysis is the ratio study, which is conducted annually.  The allowable range for assessment/sales ratio studies is 90 to 110% as mandated by the State of Kentucky Revenue Department.

The International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) is a professional organization with which many of our staff members are associated.IAAO helps establish the best practices and standards for performing tax assessments, including statistical measures for evaluating the quality of assessment work.  The widely accepted measure of quality in the tax assessment field is the coefficient of dispersion (COD), the median of assessment/sale ratios in each of the Jefferson County PVA neighborhoods.  The reason for wide acceptance of COD as the standard measure is that quality of assessment work is measured in terms of uniform treatment of every property to insure the highest degree of equity and fairness for individual property owners relative to one another.