Office of the County Appraiser

Post date: 

Friday, January 15, 2016 - 11:55am

FAQ about Digital Imaging Project
Updated January 4, 2017

Why are you doing this project?

Kansas state statute requires that counties update property information every six years to maintain accurate data on every parcel of land in the county. High resolution photos taken in this manner ensure that our office is appraising properties in the most effective and fair way possible.

How does it work?

We contracted with a company called Tyler Technologies who are experts in this field. Their field staff will photograph the front of every building, such as homes, stores, office buildings, gazebos…every structure that has value.

Staff will take photographs from public right-of-way, as opposed to privately owned property, whenever they can.

What’s being done to make sure Johnson County residents understand what the white vans are doing?

White vans will be clearly marked with signs indicating they are conducting an imaging and address verification project for the county. All staff assigned to this project will have photo identification badges and we’ve created flyers for them to hand out if someone has a question.

In addition to letting the media know, we sent a note to public information contacts in all of the cities in Johnson County, asking them to pass on the information to law enforcement in case they get questions from their constituents.

How can I find out when these vans will be in my area?

Each week, the Appraiser’s Office will post the crew’s schedule at www.jocogov.org/countypropertyphotoproject so residents can check and see if the vans are in their area.

Are you able to blur out people or items from these pictures?

For residential parcels crews will not take pictures with homeowners or children, but will return later to capture the image.  For commercial parcels or when contractors are on residential parcels we will try to minimize the number of people in the shot.

All attempts will be made not to capture license plates as long as the image can be composed to meet the criteria for the project.

Once the images are published on our website, any concerns on a specific photo can be called into our office and we can make corrections on a case by case basis. We don’t have a process in place to blur out every adult nor items such as open garage doors or license plates with the initially captured images.

How much is this costing?

On Dec. 3 the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) authorized a contract for this project with a cost not to exceed $483,000. Again, Kansas state statute requires that counties update property information every six years to maintain accurate data on every parcel of land in the county.

How long will this project take?

There are approximately 187,000 parcels in the county with structures, some of which will require multiple images.The project should take several months to complete.

We will not shoot images with snow on the ground or when the leaves on the trees return obstructing many of the structures. If weather conditions prevent capturing all the images before leaf on, we will suspend the shoot until the fall of 2016.

Updates and status of the project can be found at: http://www.jocogov.org/countypropertyphotoproject

JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. — The Appraiser’s Office will mail approximately 23,000 rendition forms to Johnson County property owners, businesses and oil and gas accounts on Dec. 31. Rendition forms are used to value taxable personal property.

Property owners are required by law to provide a listing of tangible personal property that is owned or leased, as of the first day of January, per Kansas statute K.S.A. 79-303.

Examples of commercial personal property that must be reported include manufacturing equipment, computers, telephone systems, copy machines, shelving and racks, and plant machinery. Examples of individual personal property include recreational vehicles, boats, motors, trailers, heavy trucks, mobile homes, off-road vehicles, four-wheelers and aircraft.

The filing requirement does not apply to the following:

•          Motor vehicles that are taxed at the time of licensing
•          Commercial equipment that cost $1,500 or less
•          Commercial equipment purchased after June 30, 2006

March 15 is the deadline for personal property owners to return renditions to the Johnson County Appraiser’s Office. Late filing penalties will apply to renditions received after March 15.

Property owners who do not receive a rendition form or who have questions are advised to contact the Appraiser’s Office at 913-715-9000.