1 W. Main St. | Newcastle, WY 82701
Weston County Assessor
Real Property
Why is Property Valued
Property is valued at fair market value and assessed for taxation because the Wyoming Constitution and Wyoming State Statutes state the following:
- “All property, except as in this constitution otherwise provided, shall be uniformly valued at its full value as defined by the legislature…” Wyoming Constitution Article 15, Section 11 (a)
- “Except as otherwise provided: (A) All taxable property shall be annually listed, valued and assessed for taxation in the County in which located and in the name of the owner of the property on January 1;…” Wyoming Statute 39-13-103 (b)(i)
- “All property shall be annually valued at its fair market value. Except as otherwise provided by law for specific property, the department (Department of Revenue) shall prescribe by rule and regulation the appraisal methods and systems for determining market value using generally accepted appraisal standards.” Wyoming Statute 39-13-103 (b)(ii)
How is Property Valued – Assessing Property
A Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) system called RealWare is used in Weston County, as well as in all other Wyoming counties and many other states, for real property appraisals. The Wyoming Department of Revenue is responsible for maintaining this State-provided mass appraisal database. This system is able to store sales data and run sales ratio studies. It is also a cost system consisting of an appraisal program which is regularly updated by the State.
Property and building characteristics are collected by field listers and entered into the CAMA system. With this information, the system generates a Replacement Cost New (RCN) using Marshall and Swift valuation tables. Further entry of year of construction, effective age, condition, and other characteristics generates a Replacement Cost New Less Depreciation (RCNLD) for each building on every piece of property in the County. The sum of the RCNLD of all structures, called improvements, and the land value equals the appraised value of the property.
A property file folder is maintained on each parcel of property. This file lists specific information and includes a basic sketch of the house and other structures. Information on other miscellaneous outbuildings and photographs of the buildings on the property are included. Property files are available for owners’ review to ensure the accuracy of the information used to generate property market value. These are available at any time. Please call (307) 746-4633 for additional information.
The main residential valuation model used by Weston County is the Market Adjusted Cost Approach. Homes are valued based on what an average person would be willing to pay for a similar property. This information is derived by looking at current sales in the County. Every attempt is made to use sales that have the same characteristics as the subject property to be valued. These characteristics would include, but are not limited to, area, quality, condition, number of bathrooms, type of garage, number of stories, type of heating, roofing, siding, and amenities.
Sales data are collected through Statements of Consideration, a form filled out at the end of a sale showing sale price, type of sale, mortgage information, and more. The Assessor verifies these Statements of Consideration to be sure they are valid sales – sales at fair market value. Fair market value is the amount of money a well-informed buyer would pay and a well-informed seller would accept for property that has been on the open market for a reasonable amount of time, assuming neither buyer nor seller is acting under pressure. When a sale is deemed valid, it can be used to help determine fair market value for other similar properties.
The Assessor’s goal is to make value estimates based on the best information available and to value all properties fairly and equally, while being as close to fair market value as possible. For additional information or questions please contact the Assessor’s office at (307) 746-4633.
Tony Barton
Chairman of the Weston County Commission
Past County Elected Officials
Lists of former county elected officials are now available online! These date back to 1915!