Luker explains that his office sends out a questionnaire to people who have purchased Coosa County property during the past year. The primary purpose is to attain the purchase price and the value of any improvements that exist on the property. Luker says that his office then makes an concerted effort to separate the value of the improvement from the value of the raw land. They must be separated for tax purposes. The improvements consist of buildings, timber, pasture, utilities, and fencing.
Many people are unable to provide a value of there improvements.
Luker says that his office uses a system of categories to provide a method to asses fair value on raw land. Categories are determine by such factors as location, utility access and terrain. He said that in establishing these categories his office takes sample tracks of land that have been sold and places those samples in the category that most closely fits that property and then averages the values of each category to determine a value for that particular category. Then each parcel is assigned to a category. This is how the value for each parcel of land is determined.