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Assessors
| Director of Equalization |
| Paul Fracassi |
| Location |
| Cass County Courthouse |
| 211 9th St. S., Fargo, ND 58103 |
| Map |
Phone |
| (701) 241-5616 |
Fax |
| (701) 241-5728 |
| Website |
| www.casscountynd.gov/our-county/assessor |
| Office Hours |
| Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-5:00 pm |
Responsibilities
The City of Horace works through Cass County for assessor responsibilities. The Assessing Office is responsible for identifying and valuing all real property within Cass County. Once values are certified by the State Board of Equalization, they are sent to the Finance Office to calculate property taxes. The Office of the State Tax Commissioner oversees the valuation of real property through a sales ratio analysis, which determines if jurisdiction is maintaining their property valuations at market.
Assessment Process
North Dakota law requires Assessors to value or appraise, property at true & full value as of February 1st of each year. This can also be referred to as market value. Basically, what that means is the value that most people would likely pay for a given property in its present condition.
WHAT IS A LEGAL DESCRIPTION?
A legal description is simply a statement that contains a designation by which a piece of land is identified. These descriptions, may be in several different formats: some may refer to systems using benchmark locations that reference points by latitude and longitude, some may describe a parcel of land by reference to courses (or bearings) and distances to established landmarks, and some may use several forms of mapping systems.
WHAT IS A PARCEL?
A piece of land, regardless of size, under one ownership, is generally described as a parcel. In maintaining land ownership records, the Assessor defines the boundaries of land according to ownership and assigns a unique identifying number to each parcel. This is referred to as the parcel number, parcel identifier, or parcel identification number (PIN). This numbering becomes the universal tie for other agencies needing access to information relating to properties like taxes, special assessments, zoning, realtor listing information, water utility ties, mortgages, liens, etc.
Click here to find a parcel number.
What is taxable value?
Taxable value refers to a percentage of the Assessor's appraisal, according to a state prescribed formula, after any exemptions are removed. An assessment ratio of 50% is multiplied by the Assessor's appraisal to get assessed value. Then, the assessed value is multiplied by 9% for residential and 10% for all other property classes to get taxable value.
Therefore, the taxable value of a residential property is 4.5% of the Assessor's estimate of value and 5% of the Assessor's value for commercial and agricultural property. To calculate annual taxes for a property, the taxable value is multiplied by the mill levy.
What is the Residential New Construction Exemption?
Up to $150,000.00 of true and full value of all new single-family and condominium and townhouse residential property, exclusive of the land on which it is situated, is exempt from taxation for the first two years after the tax year in which construction is completed and the residence is owned and occupied for the first time. New single-family residential property, exclusive of land on which it is situated, is exempt from assessment for the taxable year in which construction began and the next two taxable years if the property remains owned by the builder and remains unoccupied.
THE TAX EXEMPTION RESOLUTION WAS REINSTATED ON JUNE 20, 2023
The Horace City Council will discuss the Tax Exemption Resolution again in June 2024.
IMPORTANT
Properties with new home construction that were permitted between January 1, 2023 -June 2023, which were ineligible, are now retroactively eligible for the tax abatement again.
Please click here for the residential tax abatement application.
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Additional documents:
2024 Assessment Roll Worksheet with 2023 Real Values