If you, or an organization you know, desires to tour the Assessor's Office, please let us know and we will schedule a tour for you. Groups of 10-12 are ideal. Remember this is your government -- learn how it works.
For tours call 291-7225.

Over 70% of property tax dollars go to schools and education. County government gets about 20% which is used to support the Courthouse and various services such as:

• Community Development
• 4-H Camp
• Health Department
• Libraries
• Public Transit
• Volunteer Fire Departments
• Emergency Services
• Water & Sewage
• Social Services
• Parks & Recreation
• Senior Citizens
• Dog Pound
• Chestnut Ridge Camp

All individuals, contractors or any person who erects, adds, enlarges, moves, alters, converts, remodels, and builds whereby the value increases by more than $1,000 must notify the Assessor on Form 12:75 within 60 days from the date the work has commenced. If a municipality permit has been obtained this will be sufficient notice under this section (11-3-3a of the WV Code). Forms are available in the County Assessor's office.

County tax maps were originally created in 1961-62 by the State Tax Department to aid the Assessor in the location and assessment of real estate, and are still maintained on linen and mylar sheets. These maps are also used by residents, attorneys, realtors, surveyors and lending institutions to help them in various aspects when researching and conveying real estate. The Assessor is not required by state law to have a map room open to the public, but does so as a courtesy to the citizens.

Your Assessor has begun to use computers to replace the old method of generating county tax maps, thereby eliminating the need of sending our maps to Charleston for updating. This will result in more information, more accurate and up-to-date maps available for use by the Assessor's Office and the citizens of Monongalia County.

Maintaining the county tax maps is a complex and continuing process that requires knowledge in general mathematics, geometry and trigonometry. One must also possess skills in computer mapping, surveying, drafting, and the ability to use and understand documents recorded in the County Clerk's Office. The integrity of the maps is maintained by trained, experienced and qualified staff.

Every Monongalia County Citizen is required by law to file an annual Personal Property Assessment as of the first day of July of each year.

The Assessor mails your assessment form pre-printed to you every assessment season, providing you have filed the previous year. If you do not receive a form in the mail, this indicates that you are not current and up-to-date in filing your Personal Property Return and you should contact our office immediately.

REMEMBER :

Property values are not static. They change dynamically with depreciation, land value, inflation, and market changes due to desirability or lack of desirability of a property. Therefore, the State of West Virginia mandatorily requires that each assessor in West Virginia analyze and make changes to the Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal System (CAMA) on a yearly basis. This means that your value may go up or down slightly in any given year. If your value increases over 10% in any given year, you will receive a written notice of increase of assessment. If you disagree with the value you should contact the Assessor's Office and be prepared to provide evidence of the true value of your property. If you cannot reach an agreement on the value of your property, you can appeal to the Board of Equalization which meets in the month of February each year. You will be asked to state the value of your property and support that value with either a certified appraisal, your real estate insurance papers, examples of recent comparable sales in your area, or in the case of a commercial building, an income approach.

The 1990 State Wide Revaluation Legislation and Property Valuation Commission requires that all 55 assessors in West Virginia must keep all real estate valued at between 90 and 110% of true market value. It also requires that all sales to appraisal ratios must now show large disparity or inequality from a median measure among homes that sold. This disparity is measured by a statistic called a Coefficient of Dispersion which must be less than 20 for residential property. Monongalia County in 1995 met both these standards with an average market value of 96% and an average coefficient of dispersion of 15 for residential property in 1996. In 1997 the Standard will be further tightened by adding the Mann-Whitney Test which will insure fairness between homes that have sold recently and homes that have not sold. It will also require that use of a Price Related Differential Statistic which will test for equal tax burden between high and low value homes. The purpose of all these technically difficult statistical appraisal tests is to ensure that the tax burden is shared fairly among all property owners. The Monongalia County Assessor's Office presently has the highly trained technical staff to ensure that this County will spread the tax burden as fairly as is statistically possible.

Dog Tax/License Fees

It is the duty of the Assessor to collect a head tax of $3.00 on each dog, six months or older, and to collect an additional $3.00 in Morgantown, Westover, Star City, and Granville.

Unlicensed dogs found by the county dog warden will be impounded. Owners are subject to fines and pound fees.

Dog taxes support the pound and animal control programs. It is hoped that dog owners will cooperate in the payment of this minimal tax.

Mobile Homes on Personal Property -- Mobile Homes located on land not owned by the owner of the mobile homes shall be assessed to the owner of the mobile homes on the Personal Property Books.

Mobile Homes on Real Property -- Normally, if the owner of a mobile home, who also owns the land on which it sits, places it on a constructed foundation and builds steps, patio, or etc., the mobile home is considered to be in a permanent location and is assessed as real property.

Any taxpayer who discovers an error on his tax ticket (i.e., misspelled name, incorrect year of vehicle, classification and taxability of property) may apply for relief to the County Commission. The most common causes of errors are :

(1) Taxpayer reports incorrect year or type of vehicle.
(2) State Tax Department incorrectly values coal, oil, gas.
(3) Taxpayer moves within the county and doesn't transfer Class II status.
(4) Taxpayers reported assets twice in the same district or twice in different district.

Each request for relief is reviewed by the Prosecuting Attorney's Office before being approved by the County Commission. A corrected tax ticket, refund or credit is issued by the Sheriff. The Assessor's Office assists the taxpayer in filing proper forms and documentation.