Yesterday we received the attached advice on Iowa code section 441.50. Please feel free to share it with any of the assessors in the counties we are auditing. It will be posted on our H drive and the website as well.
The advice clarifies that the special appraiser's fund may be used to pay the cost of employing appraisers and other technical or expert help to assist in the valuation of property by contracting with an appraiser as an independent contractor or hiring an appraiser to work as part of the assessor's staff. A 1966 Attorney General's opinion provides the Conference Board must exercise its discretion to determine whether appraisal services will be provided by appraisers on the assessor's staff or by independent contractors.
Salary, benefits and other costs associated with employing appraisers and other personnel within a county assessor's office may be paid from the special appraiser's fund, as long as the employees provide "technical or expert help to assist in the valuation of property".
This is not to say that the special appraiser's fund may be used to cover all personnel costs of the assessor's office. Section 441.50 does not authorize use of the special appraiser's fund for payment of salary and expenses associated with the employment of clerical staff or other employees who do not provide "technical or expert help to assist in the valuation of property.
The penultimate paragraph of the advice talks about transfers from the special appraiser's fund to the assessment expense fund. Assessors can not levy excess dollars in the special appraiser's fund to be transferred to the assessment expense fund to be expended for items that are not appraisers or other technical or expert help to assist in the valuation of property.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Andy
Deputy Auditor of State
*Items in red were added by Steve Palm.