Assessor's Office
Assessor: Danny Hagen
WAC
458-53-030 Stratification of assessment rolls --
Real property. (1)
Stratification -- Uses for ratio study. The stratification process
is the grouping of real property within each county into homogeneous classifications
based upon certain criteria in order to obtain representative samples. Stratification
is used in determining the number of appraisals to be included in the ratio
study and also for ratio calculation. The county's most current certified
assessment rolls are used for stratification. Counties shall stratify rolls
using a land use code stratification system as prescribed by the department.
(See RCW 36.21.100.) (2) Stratification -- Parcel count and total value -- Exclusions. The stratification of the real property assessment rolls shall include a parcel count and a total value of the taxable real property parcels in each stratum excluding the following: (a) Classified and designated forest lands and timberland classified under chapter 84.34 RCW (see RCW 84.34.060); (b) State-owned game lands as defined in RCW 77.12.203(2); (c) Current use properties in those counties where a separate study is conducted pursuant to WAC 458-53-095(3); and (d) State assessed properties. (3) Stratification -- By county. For the real property ratio study, the assessment roll shall be stratified for individual counties according to land use categories and substratified by value classes as determined by the department. Stratification shall be reviewed at least every other year by the department to determine if changes need to be made to improve sampling criteria. After the strata have been determined, the department shall notify the counties of the strata limits and each county shall provide the department with the following, taken from the county's assessment rolls: (a) A representative number of samples, as determined by the department, in each stratum, together with: (i) The name and address of the taxpayer for each sample; (ii) The land use code for each sample; (iii) The assessed value for each sample; and (iv) The actual number of samples; (b) The total number of real property parcels in each stratum; and (c) The total assessed value in each stratum. (4) Counties to provide information timely. The stratification information described in subsection (3) of this section shall be provided by the counties to the department in a timely manner to enable the department to certify the preliminary ratios in accordance with WAC 458-53-200(1). Failure to provide the information in a timely manner will result in the department using its best estimate of stratum values to calculate the real property ratio. (5) Standard two digit land use code. The following two digit land use code shall be used as the standard to identify the actual use of the land. Counties may elect to use a more detailed land use code system using additional digits, however, no county land use code system may use fewer than the standard two digits.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 84.08.010, 84.08.070 and 84.48.075. 96-05-002, 458-53-030, filed 2/8/96, effective 3/10/96. Statutory Authority: RCW 84.08.010 and 84.08.070. 91-01-008, 458-53-030, filed 12/6/90, effective 1/6/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 84.48.075 and 84.08.010(2). 89-09-021 (Order PT 89-5), 458-53-030, filed 4/12/89. Statutory Authority: RCW 84.48.075. 86-21-004 (Order PT 86-6), 458-53-030, filed 10/2/86; 84-14-039 (Order PT 84-2), 458-53-030, filed 6/29/84; 79-11-029 (Order PT 79-3), 458-53-030, filed 10/11/79. Formerly WAC 458-52-030.] |