Have you ventured on to the Oklahoma County Assessor‘s website lately? Whether you work in the real estate industry, are a history buff or just a nosy neighbor (or journalist), the site provides information on property ownership, property taxes, land value and other data.
The Assessor’s Office announces another tool on the site.
“Another first for Oklahoma County as we have started providing a new layer of ‘Annual Sales Data’ to display all the 2017 Deed and Sales changes for the entire 720 square miles that make up Oklahoma County. … This is another innovative way to have access to this data free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the assessor’s internationally recognized webpage,” said Larry Stein, chief deputy for Oklahoma County Assessor Leonard Sullivan.
“It’s fairly simple to find the data if you’re familiar with the mapping site. First, locate the “map layers” tab at the bottom left corner near the home tab. ‘Annual Sales Data’ will come up with an empty box, click the box. The drop down color legend menu will provide a color code to identify the different types of properties including residential, agricultural, industrial, exempt associated with the different colors. The colors were chosen through a special software program we use specifically to ensure those who might be color blind would be able to differentiate between all the colors we used,” Stein said.
“This can be a valuable visual tool for those interested in real estate because it can provide a visual reference about deed and sales data for a particular area of interest, something provided for the first-time on the Oklahoma County Assessor’s website and it could be a first for any assessor’s site,” Stein said.
The assessor’s news release said property taxes in Oklahoma are among the lowest in the nation. “Depending on the location, Texas property taxes can be more than double Oklahoma’s, and New Jersey’s property taxes can be more than four times Oklahoma County’s for the same value of property. He said more than 70 cents of every property tax dollar in Oklahoma County goes to support local public schools, colleges and technology centers,” said the deputy assessor.
Stein is running to be elected Assessor and is one of the two Republican candidates in a June primary race for the position. The other Repubilcan is former state lawmaker Gary Banz. The winner of the primary faces another former state lawmaker, Democrat Mike Shelton, in November.
The Oklahoma County Assessor lists and maintains records on every piece of property in Oklahoma County, determines fair market value, works with property owners on exemptions and resolves protests. Current Assessor Leonard Sullivan earns about $108,000 annually in the position.
