Harvey County appraiser explains state-mandated appraisal process and how properties are assessed
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Summary
Pam Thomas, Harvey County appraiser staff, described required six-year exterior inspections, the state's Property Valuation Division oversight, sales-ratio monitoring and which property types are state-assessed.
Pam Thomas of the Harvey County Appraiser’s Office briefed the board on Sept. 16 about how property values are determined, the office’s obligations under state directives and what residents can expect when appraisers visit properties.
Thomas said the office is required to visit properties on a six-year cycle to verify exterior characteristics and that appraisers do not schedule thousands of phone calls for these visits: "Every once every 6 years, we are required to be on a property to do our data collection... If we had to call over 3,000 people a year, we would never get our job done." She added that field staff leave a note or card at the door after an exterior visit and that the office provides paper forms for residents who cannot access the online portal.
On oversight, Thomas told commissioners the appraiser’s work is guided by state statute and directives issued by the Property Valuation Division of the Kansas Department of Revenue. "We are both legally and professionally bound to follow statutes and directives, and they are issued by the property valuation division, which is PVD of the Kansas Department of Revenue," she said. Thomas described sales-ratio studies and other monitoring tools the state uses to determine compliance and said Harvey County had been found to be in compliance in the most recent review: "We were in compliance."
She clarified which property types the county values and which are state-assessed: utilities such as electric substations and gas facilities are assessed by the state, while most other real property across cities and unincorporated county areas must be valued by the county appraiser and provided to taxing jurisdictions.
Why this matters: property valuations affect tax bills across the county. Thomas emphasized that providing correct information to the appraiser helps accuracy and that the appraiser’s office must follow state-mandated procedures and reporting.
No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational and addressed resident questions about how appraisals are performed.
