Not necessarily. The fact that a property sells for less than the assessed value does not automatically reduce an assessment. The assessor’s office reviews sales annually and compares those sale prices to the assessed value. Typically, if the assessment is within 10% of the sale price, the assessment will remain the same.
For those properties that sell outside of that 10% figure, further research is conducted by the assessor’s office to determine whether or not that sale was an open market sale. An open market sale is defined as a property being on the open market with neither the buyer nor the seller being compelled to act. The parties must also be unrelated. It is suggested that a purchaser contact the assessor’s office to review the assessment should the sale price be less than the assessed value. The assessor may be contacted at (800) 770-3927.