Mapping and Appraisal:

Act 160 of the Alabama Legislature created the statewide reappraisal program and specified that all property is to be appraised at fair and reasonable market value. The mission of the reappraisal and mapping program in each county is to discover, list and value all property at its fair and reasonable market value using mass appraisal methods.

The first step in the appraisal process is to properly identify the property or properties to be valued. In order to do this, deeds, wills, recorded subdivisions and other vesting instruments must be reviewed and mapped after they are properly filed in the Probate Office. Tax maps are generated from these discoveries. A tax map is a map drawn to scale and delineated for lot lines, property lines, or both with dimensions of areas, identifying numbers, letters, or names for all lots or parcels of land. Tax maps are an essential tool in the development and maintenance of an equitable assessment system. The maps serve as an inventory of all properties in a county and assure their inclusion on the tax roll. All of our tax maps are available for sale to the public.

The field review and appraisal should begin as soon as the mapping of each vesting instrument is complete. Then the organizational structure of the appraisal department must take over and perform all tasks associated with meeting the goals of property equalization. All standards have been set by the Alabama Department of Revenue, who is directly responsible for all work. The task of reappraising property lies with the county, but subject to approval of the Department of Revenue who can issue an order for a county to undertake a reappraisal. The Department uses the sales ratio study to determine when a county must do this, along with a set schedule of a five year period for every Alabama County.

Pike County has over 20,000 separate parcels of land that must be individually appraised for tax purposes. Each parcel of land is described on a property record card. Characteristics about land and buildings are listed separately and become the basis for establishing fair market value. This information can be found in the Revenue Commissioner's Office.