What is a County Assessor?

by Kristin Higgins - April 26, 2022

Updated Blog Post

Are you looking at your sample ballot for the Nov. 8 Arkansas ballot? There are a lot of jobs on the ballot that people might not know what they do.

Today we highlight the job of a county assessor.

County Assessor in Arkansas

One of the few interactions most Arkansans have with the county assessor is that last-minute appraisal of your car or boat or other personal property before the May 31st deadline. Or when you're trying to renew your vehicle or boat tags at the DMV and realize you forgot to assess this year.

The county assessor is one of nine executives in county government and is required by state law to review property values at least once every three years. Their work is used by the county tax collector to send out property tax bills every year.

Term in Office: A constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2016 changed the term of a county assessor from two years to four years. The pay for the job varies depending on the population of the county, and is set by the Quorum Court.

The Association of Arkansas Counties reported salaries ranging from about $36,000 to $125,00 in their 2020 county government salary survey. 

Eligibility Requirements:

• United States citizen
• At least 18 years old
• Registered to vote in their county
• No fraud or felony convictions

Job Duties:

Over their four-year term, a county assessor is responsible for:

• Determining the market value of all land, buildings, homes, barns, etc. in the county (known as "real property")
• Determining the market value of all cars, motorcycles, livestock, boats, etc. in the county (known as "personal property")
• Establishing how much taxes are owed on those properties based on their appraisals
• Compiling and sharing tax information on these properties with the county's Board of Equalization, which hears property tax appeals
• Being aware of all property transactions in the county
• Maintaining records of property transactions in the county

Want to know more about property taxes in Arkansas? We have a website about it: https://www.uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/local-government/property-taxes.aspx 

Look at Your November Ballot

Early voting starts Oct. 24 and Election Day is Nov. 8. Find out what is on your ballot at the Arkansas Secretary of State's VoterView website, https://www.voterview.ar-nova.org/VoterView. 

Use our 2022 Arkansas Ballot Issues Voter Guide to learn about the constitutional amendments on this year's ballot.

Additional Reading

Arkansas County Assessors 2022 Procedures Manual - Association of Arkansas Counties