Assessment Practices Review Panel - St. Louis County

County Assessment Practices
County property assessment in Minnesota can be organized in two ways:
- True County Assessor System: All assessments are conducted by the County
Assessor’s office pursuant to Minn. Stat. 273.052. The County board has, by Minn.
Stat. 273.055 and Minn. Stat. 273.053, the power to bring all assessments, with the
exception of cities of the first class (City of Duluth), under the responsibility of the
office of the St. Louis County Assessor.
- Mixed Assessment System: In place if the True County system has not been
implemented. Organized jurisdictions have the option of employing their own
assessor, either by contract or employment agreement, or having these services
provided by the St. Louis County Assessor.
The map in Appendix I (Map of Statewide County Assessment Practices) provides an
overview of statewide county assessment practices. Note that some counties have not
adopted the True County system, but the county assessor provides assessment services for
the entire county.
St. Louis County has not adopted the True County system, and thus its assessment is
organized as a mixed system in accordance with Minn. Stat. 273.061, subd. 8. This means
that in St. Louis county, cities and organized townships either employ or contract with
local assessors or contract with the St. Louis County Assessor’s office for property
assessment services. All unorganized townships are assessed by the St. Louis County
Assessor. The City of Duluth is a city of the first class and pursuant to Minn. Stat.
273.063 appoints a city assessor who has the same powers and duties as the county
assessor and who reports directly to the Minnesota Department of Revenue.
Local assessment
According to Minn. Stat. 273.05, subd.1 and 3, cities and towns have the power to
establish their own local assessment office. This office has the following responsibilities:
- Local assessment for property valuation and classification
- Establishment of Local Board of Appeal and Equalization
- Report valuation and classification information to the County
St. Louis County has approximately 109,000 taxable parcels in total, excluding the City of
Duluth and tax exempt property. Of this 3,400 are commercial properties and 61,300
residential (or seasonal) and 44,600 unimproved (agricultural or forest land). The City of
Duluth is responsible for 40,000 parcels and the local assessors assess 45,000 parcels,
leaving 64,000 parcels for the County to assess. The map in Appendix II (Map of St.
Louis County Assessment Jurisdictions) provides an overview of the distribution of
assessment responsibilities between the County and local assessors.
The following paragraphs describe how assessment is organized at different jurisdictional
levels.
St. Louis County Assessment Practices Review Panel Draft Report February 2012 Page 15