Value News Magazine February 2022 Tulsa

Regardless of Property’s Taxable Value, Tulsa County Assessor Says: “The tax cap is your friend.”

BY TOM FINK

F

ebruary, 2022: It’s the responsibility of the Tulsa County Assessor’s office to put an accurate, fair market value on all property in Tulsa County, as of the lawful assessment date, with that date being Jan. 1.

According to Assessor John Wright, the reason for this is twofold: One, so that everyone is treated equally, and two, the property assessment is half of what ends up being the property tax bill (the value times the millage rate).

“We’re required by law to notify the people that there has been an increase in the assessment from the previous year, so if we’ve raised the evaluation for tax roll purposes from last year, we send out a notification to the property owner to that effect,” he said. “That notice opens up a 30-day window of appeal, as well as allowing a window of time for people to apply for lawful exemptions.”

Wright’s office is required to look at one-fourth of the county every year, in what’s called the Visual Inspection Cycle, with the county being divided into four roughly even territories, even by virtue of structures being considered.

Even the three territories not being visually inspected on a given year are valued, but done so through a market analysis of the sales activity that has taken place in the immediate area.

As a result of this analysis, Wright’s

Left: Tulsa County Assessor John Wright 14 |

VALUE NEWS TULSA FEBRUARY 2022 WWW.VALUENEWS.COM