Adams County Assessment and Appraising
Adams County Assessment and Appraising
Property taxes are the main source of revenue for the County of Adams and its local municipalities and school districts. Tax assessments are directly derived from Fair Market Values of properties within the county. It is the goal of the Assessment/Appraising division to ensure that all properties are valued correctly and uniformly. By examining property improvement certificates, making routine field visits throughout the county and consultation with property owners, we discover, identify and collect information on property types and characteristics. Tax assessment determinations are made by trained and certified employees known as Certified Pennsylvania Evaluators (CPE's). The goal of the process is to properly determine the fair market value of a given property. This assessed value is then used in conjunction with the millage rate set by the taxing authorities (County, municipalities & school districts) to determine the property taxes owed. The assessment of a property may be periodically adjusted through a countywide reassessment, an appeal process or due to improvements or demolitions to a given property with a Property Improvement Certificate.
The County lists detailed information for each of its 45,300+ properties. The last countywide assessment was done in 2010. Real estate assessments represent 100% of the 2010 market value. The real estate assessment roll is used to levy taxes for the County, townships, boroughs and school districts, each year. During the annual budget process for each taxing body, a millage rate (tax rate) is set. The millage rate is taken times the total assessed value for each property in the district to arrive at the real estate taxes due. Example: Assessed Value of $100,000 X 1 mills (.001) = $100.00 Real Estate Taxes.