Garden County Nebraska

GardenCoNe.com

Oshkosh, Lewellen, Lisco

Mission Statement

The Garden County Assessor is dedicated to establishing fair and equitable assessments for all real property and personal property of the county in accordance with state statutes and with regulations and directives set forth the by the Nebraska Property Tax Administrator and the Tax Equalization and Review Commission.

About This Office

The Garden County Assessor's position is an elected office. The term of office is four years. To occupy the office one must hold a valid Nebraska Assessor Certificate from the Property Tax Administrator. The assessor must meet all standards set forth by statute and regulations to maintain the certificate and must obtain sixty hours of continuing education every four year period.

The Garden County Assessor is responsible for the valuation of approximately 4,400 parcels of real estate and 600 personal property records. Approximately 150 homestead exemption applications and 35 permissive exemption applications are collected and processed.

Office Personnel

County Assessor - Janet L. Shaul
Deputy County Assessor - Cindy J. Hurlbutt
Clerk - Lyn L. Salmon

Tenure and dates

Janet Shaul, the current Garden County Assessor, started work in May of 1987 and was appointed deputy shortly thereafter, and appointed as County Assessor in March of 1989 after the resignation of the former assessor. She has been elected in each county election since that time.

Cindy Hurlbutt, Deputy County Assessor, started work in June of 1995 and was appointed deputy shortly thereafter.

Lyn Salmon, Clerk, started work part time in September of 2001. On February 1, 2007, she became a full time employee in the Assessors office.

Duties Of Office

The Assessor's duties are prescribed by Nebraska Statutes, (Chapter 77), and Rules and Regulations promulgated by the Nebraska Property Tax Administrator which have the effect of law. They include:

• Obey all rules and regulations under Chapter 77, instructions and orders of the Property Tax Administrator, and the Tax Equalization and Review Commission;
• Establish and maintain fair and equitable value on all real and personal property within the county as of January 1st each year
• Maintain property records for all property within the county
• Track changes in ownership, addresses and boundaries of property
• Examine the records in the office of the Register of Deeds and County Clerk, the office of the County Judge, and the office of the Clerk of the District Court to determine any ownership changes
• Verify and maintain a sales file for all sales within the county
• Attend all meetings of the County Board of Equalization
• Review all applications for religious, charitable and educational tax exemptions. Accept and process homestead exemption applications
• Respond to requests for information from the public
• Compile and maintain separate records for all agricultural land enrolled in special value
• Prepare annual Real Estate and Personal Property Tax Rolls for the County Treasurer using the appropriate combinations of levies to determine the total taxes due on each parcel of real estate and each personal property record
• Prepare reports for the Property Tax Administrator, including a Real Estate Abstract, Personal Property Abstract, Assessment Survey, Assessed Value Update Roster, Five Year Plan of Assessment with yearly updates, and a Certificate of Taxes Levied showing all taxes to be collected on each land type, record type, etc. for each taxing entity
• Mail Certification of Value letters to all taxing entities
• Prepare a Homestead Loss Summary for the Department of Revenue
• Maintain and update an Office Policy and Procedures manual
• Certify annually a list of all Trusts owning agricultural land to the Secretary of State

Property Tax Calendar Due Dates

Date	Description	Statute
January 1, 12:01 am	Assessment date for Real Property	77-1301
January 1, 12.01 am	Assessment date for Personal Property	77-1201
January 31st	Government subdivisions provide assessors with copies of lease or descriptions of leased property	77-202.11
February 1st	First date to file for homestead exemption	77-202.01
March 20th	Assessor completes assessment of Real Property	77-1301
March 20th	Real Property Abstract filed with the Nebraska Property Tax Administrator (PTA)	77-1514
May 1st	Personal Property returns due	77-1229
May 1st	Personal Property protests	77-1502
May 1st	Real and Personal Property taxes delinquent-first half	77-204
June 1st	Certify completion of Real Property Assessment and publish in newspaper	77-1315
June 1st	Assessor sends Notices of Valuation Change to property owners	77-1315
June 15th	Personal Property Abstract filed with the PTA	77-5029
June 30th	Homestead Exemption application deadline	77-3512
June 30th	Individual Real Property protest deadline	77-1502
July 1 to July 25th	County Board of Equalization session - minimum of three days to review protests	77-1502
August 20th	Assessor certifies taxable valuation to political subdivisions	13-509 &13-518
September 1st	Real and Personal Property taxes delinquent-second half	77-204
September 20th	Budgets must be final and filed with levying board and with State Auditor	13-508
October 15th	Date for County Board of Equalization to set levies	77-1601
October 31st	Last day for County Board of Equalization to request PTA assumption of assessor's office	77-1340
November 1st	Tax Commissioner certifies qualified homestead applicants	77-3517
December 31st	Real and Personal Property taxes due	77-203
December 31st	Permissive exemption application deadline	77-202.01

For a complete set of dates pertaining to the assessor's office go to http://pat.nol.org/.

What is Real Property?

Real Property includes all land, buildings, fixtures, improvements, improvements on leased land, and cabin trailers and mobile homes not registered for highway use but utilized like a building. Real property also includes mines, minerals, quarries, mineral springs and wells, oil and gas wells, overriding royalty interests, and production payments with respect to oil and gas leases. Lastly, all real property includes all privileges pertaining to the real property

What is Personal Property?

Personal Property is described as tangible, depreciable income producing property, equipment, furniture and fixtures. Depreciable property is property for which federal depreciation is allowed. For property to be depreciable it must meet the following requirements:

• Be used in a trade or business or used for the production of income; and
• Must have a determinable life of longer than one year.

Who must file a Nebraska Personal Property Return?

• Anyone that owns or holds any taxable, tangible personal property on January 1, 12:01 a.m. of each year.
• Anyone that leases personal property to another person.
• Anyone that leases personal property from another person.
• Anyone that brings personal property into Garden County between January 1 at 12:01 a.m. and July 1, must list the property for assessment before July31st, unless it can be shown that the personal property was purchased after January 1st or that it was listed for assessment in another jurisdiction.

What is a Homestead Exemption and Who Can File?

A Homestead Exemption provides relief from property taxes by exempting all or a portion of the valuation of the homestead from taxation. The state of Nebraska reimburses the counties and other governmental subdivisions for the taxes lost due to homestead exemptions.

A homestead exemption is available to three groups of persons:

• Persons Over Age 65
• Certain Disabled Individuals
• Certain Disabled Veterans and Their Widow(ers)

What is a Religious or Charitable Exemption?

1. The property is owned by and used exclusively for agricultural and horticultural societies; or

2. The property is:

• Owned by educational, religious, charitable, or cemetery organizations;
• Used exclusively for educational, religious, charitable, or cemetery purposes;
• Not owned or used for financial gain or profit to either the owner or user;
• Not used for the sale of alcoholic beverages for more than 20 yours per week; and
• Not owned or used by an organization which discriminates in membership or employment based on race, color or national origin.

The Garden County Assessor's Office is located in the northeast corner of the Garden County courthouse, at 611 Main Street, Oshkosh, Nebraska 69154. The telephone number is 308-772-4464.