The State Board of Equalization was established by Laws of 1859 (Chapter 312) to equalize county property value assessments on the basis of which a State property tax was levied. As a result of the 1925 State government reorganization, the board was placed in the Department of Taxation and Finance with responsibilities for coordinating and equalizing assessments for use in distributing State aid to municipalities and setting municipal tax limits after the State property tax was discontinued in 1928. In 1949 (Chapter 346), assessment and equalization functions were transferred to a temporary State commission called the State Board of Equalization and Assessment. The board, consisting of three gubernatorial appointees, one of whom was a state tax commissioner, was directed to establish a program for revision of State equalization rates and to recommend a plan for permanent assignment of the functions, powers, and duties assigned to it. In 1960 (Chapter 335) the board was reorganized and placed in the Executive Department Office for Local Government. The new board, consisting of the commissioner for local government and four members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate, assumed all functions and duties of the previous temporary commission. Policies and procedures established by the board were carried out by an executive director who headed a division within the Office for Local Government. This office was abolished in 1975. Laws of 1975 (Chapter 606) established the Division of Equalization and Assessment as a subdivision of the Executive Department. The division is headed by the Board of Equalization and Assessment, now comprised of five members appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate, and carries out the board's programs and policies under the direction of an executive director who is approved by the board.
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The Division of Equalization and Assessment is responsible for carrying out the programs and policies of the Board of Equalization and Assessment, its directing body. The board's main functions are establishing policies for and regulating tax assessment and assisting local governments in administering the real property tax. The division implements the board's programs and policies by completing statewide market value surveys, usually every three years, based on which the board establishes equalization rates reflecting the ratio of assessed valuation to full valuation in each assessment jurisdiction. These equalization rates are then used in a number of formulas: to equitably allocate State aid and sales tax revenues, to apportion taxes and costs among special districts covering more than one taxing unit, to calculate constitutional and statutory debt and tax limits, and for other similar purposes. The division reviews county equalization rates used to adjust assessed valuations of real property in different towns and cities in order to distribute the real property tax for county purposes fairly. The division also carries out its responsibilities by establishing residential assessment ratios; assessing special franchises; approving assessments of taxable State-owned lands; setting railroad ceilings; providing local assessors with technical assistance and training, advisory appraisals of complex properties and certain special properties, and use of a computerized assessment system; approving local tax maps; and establishing tax map standards.
