Jones: It's property tax time

Iowa law requires that all residential property be reassessed every two years on the odd numbered year by the county assessor. That means Iowans had their homes reassessed this year.

When talking about assessing a home – what is really being talking about is the determination of market value. The law in Iowa is that assessed value is market value. The assessor finds the market value by analyzing recent sales, but also looks at the replacement cost (the amount it would cost to rebuild the property) less depreciation. Assessed value should be as close to market value as possible.

One thing peopl...