Sometimes, being part of the greater area communities, presents a story idea that seems to make sense, especially during the summer months when school and fall sports have not yet started. This weekend while browsing social media for story ideas and events that may not have been communicated to our newsroom, I came across a letter that was shared on the Cottage Grove Neighbors group.
The letter was a notification from Washington County Property Records and Taxpayer Services.
PROPERTY REASSESSMENT NOTICE
The Washington County Assessor’s Office is required to review all properties once every five years to ensure fair and accurate market value. Your property is scheduled for a routine review this year.
What to Expect:
Exterior Photo: In the next few weeks, our appraisers (wearing county-issued ID and vests) will take photos of your home’s front exterior and knock on your door.
Quick Interior Review: In some cases, we may request a brief, 10-minute interior review of the property.
Not Home? No Problem! We’ll leave a yellow notice with your appraiser’s contact information.
Visit www.washington.minnesotaassessors.com for more details about the appraisal process, including a property review map, or call us at 651-430-6175 (Monday-Friday, 8 AM–4:30 PM).
Washington County Property Records & Taxpayer Services
The citizen that put the post in the group seemed to be surprised by receiving the letter noting that he did not recall this kind of inspection before. Another Cottage Grove resident commented they have been in their home for ten years and they did not remember seeing one either.
So, is this a legitimate thing? The short answer is yes.
Minnesota law requires assessors to physically review taxable property at least once every five years. Washington County refers to the process as a quintile review, while Dakota County also states that every property in the county is viewed at least once during each five-year period.
That physical review is separate from the annual process of determining a property's estimated market value.
That means this is not just a Washington County thing, and Cottage Grove residents are not being singled out for some new government program. The same state law applies across Minnesota, including to homeowners in Hastings and throughout Dakota County.
The longer answer is a bit more in depth.
Why are they showing up every five years?
This is not simply county policy. It is required by state law.
Minnesota Statute 273.08 requires an assessor to “actually view” each taxable parcel, including its improvements and structures, at intervals of no more than five years.
Dakota County explains the requirement in much the same way on its assessing website. Assessors are required to view each parcel at least once every five years to help establish its market value.
The county also points out something that makes sense when you think about it. Property values can change because the real estate market changes, but the physical property can change, too.
Someone might finish a basement, add a deck, remodel a home or build an addition. Dakota County says its assessors gather information including a property's size, age, quality, basement finish and extra features such as fireplaces and walkout basements. Properties where building permits have been issued are also viewed and their value estimated following the construction.
That is one reason the state requires an occasional look at the actual property rather than allowing the government to rely forever on information that may have been entered into a database decades ago.
Dakota County then uses that property information along with actual real estate sales to calculate market value. Each year, assessors study sales in individual communities during the 12-month period from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 before the Jan. 2 assessment date.
So, there are really two things happening.
Your property is valued every year.
Someone does not have to physically visit your property every year.
But can they come inside your home?
That was the part of the letter that caught my attention and the attention of the commentors.
Taking a photograph of the front of a house is one thing. Someone knocking on the door and asking to spend 10 minutes walking through your home feels considerably different.
Minnesota law does give assessors authority to request access to property when necessary to do their jobs. But there is a very important sentence in the same law.
Minnesota Statute 273.20 states, “A property owner may refuse to allow an assessor to inspect their property.”
That seems like a fairly important sentence for homeowners to know.
The refusal can be verbal, according to the statute, or expressly stated in a letter to the county assessor.
So, despite a statute with the rather imposing title, “Assessor May Enter Dwellings, Buildings, or Structures,” an assessor does not have an unrestricted right to simply walk into your house because he or she is there to conduct an assessment.
You can say no.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue's instructions to assessors make that point even clearer. Its Property Tax Administrator's Manual tells appraisers to respect a property owner's wishes when entry is denied. When nobody is home, assessors are instructed to leave contact information so an inspection can be scheduled or property information can be verified later. The department also instructs appraisers to complete the exterior inspection, document needed changes and take updated photographs, but specifically says appraisers should never peek into windows.
That last part might sound obvious, but considering the questions that can arise when someone unexpectedly appears at your house with a camera, it is probably worth saying.
Saying no does have consequences
This is where things become a little more complicated.
You have the right to refuse an inspection, but doing so does not mean the assessor simply gives up and leaves your property value unchanged.
If an assessor is denied access, Minnesota law allows the assessor to estimate the property's market value by making what the statute calls appropriate assumptions about the property's finish and condition.
That means the county still has to put a value on the house.
Maybe your basement is unfinished. Maybe it was beautifully remodeled last year. Maybe the kitchen has not changed since 1974. Maybe county records say something about your house that simply is not correct.
If the assessor cannot see the property, assumptions may have to take the place of firsthand information.
There is also a potentially bigger issue if you disagree with the resulting value.
Minnesota law limits the ability of local and county boards of appeal and equalization to grant an adjustment that benefits an owner who refused an assessor access to inspect the property and the interior of its buildings.
Dakota County's own rules for its Special Board of Equalization repeat that requirement. The board may not make a market value adjustment or classification change benefiting a property when the owner refused the assessor access as provided under state law.
In simpler terms, you have every right to say, “No, I don't want you walking through my house.”
But if you later say, “You have my house valued incorrectly because you don't know what is inside,” refusing the inspection could make that argument much harder to win.
There is a certain logic to that.
That brings us back to the Cottage Grove residents who said they had lived in their homes for years and did not remember an assessor coming through.
That does not necessarily mean the required reviews did not happen.
The five-year requirement says the assessor must view the property. It does not mean every homeowner gets a complete interior inspection every five years.
In fact, the Washington County notice itself says an interior review will be requested only “in some cases.”
An assessor might review the exterior, update a photograph, check visible property characteristics and leave information behind if nobody answers the door.
Five years is also a pretty long time.
I have trouble remembering why I walked into a room some days or if I ate breakfast and took my medication that morning. Asking someone to remember whether a county employee stopped by sometime during the summer five or ten years ago may be asking a bit much.
Dakota County homeowners are part of the same process
For Hastings residents reading this and thinking, “Well, at least this is happening across the river,” not so fast.
Dakota County operates under exactly the same state requirement.
Its Assessing Services office says every property in Dakota County must be viewed at least once every five years. The county determines the estimated market value and classification of property as of Jan. 2 each year, and the information collected during property reviews becomes part of that valuation process.
Dakota County's Assessing Services office is actually located at the Dakota County Administration Center, 1590 Highway 55 in Hastings, and residents with questions about their valuation, property information or an inspection can contact Assessing Services at 651-438-4200.
The county's appeal system also allows property owners to specifically report incorrect property characteristics or request an inspection. Depending on the concern raised by the homeowner, Dakota County says an appointment to inspect the property may be necessary.
So, while the letter that started this discussion came from Washington County, the basic process, and more importantly the rights of the homeowner, do not change when you cross the county line.
Who is standing at your door?
There is one final part of this that I think deserves attention.
Any time an unexpected person knocks on your door, says they work for the government and asks to come inside your house, a healthy amount of skepticism seems appropriate.
Ronald Reagan probably said it best: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
Politics aside, there is a little truth in the humor when a stranger with a government identification card is standing at your front door asking to take a look around your house. Asking a few questions before opening that door is not unreasonable.
Washington County's notice says its appraisers will wear county-issued identification and vests.
Dakota County says its appraisers are professionals subject to state training, experience and licensing requirements through the Minnesota State Board of Assessors.
But a vest, clipboard or identification card should never prevent someone from asking questions.
There is nothing unreasonable about telling an appraiser that you would like to verify their identity before allowing them inside. There is also nothing unreasonable about contacting the appropriate county yourself rather than calling a telephone number supplied by the person standing on your doorstep.
Washington County Property Records and Taxpayer Services can be reached at 651-430-6175.
Dakota County Assessing Services can be reached at 651-438-4200.
And remember, allowing someone inside does not have to be a decision made while that person is standing on your front step.
The letter is legitimate, but so are the questions
When I first saw the Cottage Grove post, I understood why people were asking questions.
Most homeowners are accustomed to receiving property tax statements and annual valuation notices. We open them, look at the number, perhaps wonder when our house suddenly became worth that much money, and then move on with our day.
A letter saying someone will be coming to photograph your house and may ask to come inside feels different.
It is different.
But after digging into the statutes and the assessment procedures used in both Washington and Dakota counties, there really is not anything mysterious about what is happening.
Minnesota requires assessors to periodically look at the properties they are responsible for valuing. Both Washington and Dakota counties are carrying out that requirement.
The assessor can knock on your door.
The assessor can ask to come inside.
You can say no.
The assessor can still value your property if you refuse.
And refusing an inspection can have consequences if you later ask an appeal board to lower that value.
That is a lot more nuanced than either, “The county has the right to enter my house,” or, “Nobody from the government is coming into my house.”
Neither statement tells the whole story.
For me, that is also the reason this seemingly ordinary Facebook post turned into something worth writing about.
The Washington County letter was legitimate.
The five-year property reviews are legitimate.
But so are the questions people had after receiving it.
And whether you live in Cottage Grove, Hastings or elsewhere in Minnesota, knowing what the assessor is allowed to do, and what you are allowed to say no to, seems like useful information to have before that knock comes at the door.