Gillian Golub
FI331 Final Paper

There are many offices that affect the ownership of real estate, such as the Tax Assessor’s Office, Tax Commissioner’s Office, Clerk of Superior Court’s Office, Office of Planning and Zoning, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Agriculture Extension Service, and Alabama Forestry Commission. All these different offices are very similar but have significant duties.
The Tax Assessor is an elected official by the county, and is responsible for locating taxable property in the County. The Tax Assessor’s Office also assesses the value, identifying the owner, and publishing annual and supplemental assessment rolls. There are a few types of property that are tax-exempt. Some commonly granted exemptions include, property used in manufacture of other goods, property used by a tax-exempt or other parties for a charitable or other not-for-profit purpose, and property considered a “necessity of life”. Some jurisdictions offer partial or whole tax exemption to educational institutions. Certain types of property are Specifically in Alabama, a disabled veteran may receive a full property tax exemption on his/her primary residence if the veteran is 100 percent disabled as a result of service and has a net annual income of 12,000 or less. The reason why a tax assessor is important, and we need assessments of our properties is to fairly collect property taxes. Property taxes are a primary source of revenue for many local governments.
The next office that is involved in the ownership of real estate is the tax commissioner’s office. The primary function of the Tax Commissioner's Office is to calculate the amount due for property tax statements based on the assessed property value, as determined by the Tax Assessors, and the millage rate, as set by the Board of Commissioners. The Tax Commissioner collects the taxes. The millage rate is the