Click on a letter above to jump to appropriate section of PVA terminology.
| Ad Valorem Tax | A tax levied in proportion to the value of the property being taxed. Ad valorem simply means "based on value". |
| Appeal | The process by which a property owner contests an assessment either informally or formally. |
| Appraisal | An estimation of value, or the price a property would bring in an open market. |
| Appraisal Date | The legal date for which the assessments are made. In Kentucky the appraisal date is January 1st. |
| Arm's-Length Sale | A sale between two unrelated parties, both seeking to maximize their positions from the sale transaction. |
| Assessed Value | The monetary amount at which a property is put on the assessment roll for a particular assessment year. |
| Assessment Year | The 365 days beginning with the appraisal date, which is January 1 in Kentucky. |
| Assessor | The head of an assessment jurisdiction. In Kentucky she or he is called the PVA. |
| Board of Assessment Appeals | Locally appointed three member board that hears protests from property owners who disagree with the PVA assessment. |
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| Cadastral Map | A scale map showing the dimensions of each parcel and related information. |
| CAMA | "Computer Aided Mass Appraisal" - Statistical formulas that allow a computer to generate assessment data for multiple properties. |
| Chronological Age | The number of years elapsed since an original structure was built, or its actual age. |
| Comparable | Recently sold properties that are similar to a property being appraised which provide an estimate of value. |
| Cost Approach | "Principle of Substitution" - seeks to determine the replacement cost of an improvement-less, depreciation-plus land value. |
| Date of Sale | The date on which the sale was agreed upon. |
| Easement | A right held by one person to use the land of another for a specific purpose, such as access to other property. |
| Economic Life | The period of time during which a given building or other improvement to property is expected to contribute (positively) to the value of the total property. |
| Economic Obsolescence | Loss in value of a property that stems from factors external to the property. |
| Effective Age | The typical age of a structure equivalent to the one in question with respect to its utility and condition. |
| Equity | The degree to which assessments bear a consistent relationship to market value. |
| Fee Appraisal | Appraisal of properties one at a time for a fee. |
| Fee Simple | In land ownership, complete interest in a property, subject only to governmental powers such as eminent domain. |
| Field Review | The practice of reviewing property from the exteriors. |
| Fixture | An item of equipment that, because of the way it is used, has become an integral part of the building or other improvement. |
| Functional Obsolescence | Loss in value of a property resulting from changes in tastes, preferences, or market standards. |
| GIS | Geographic Information System (i.e. Computerized Mapping). |
| Gross Income Multiplier | The factor by which gross income is multiplied in order to obtain an estimate of value. |
| Gross Rent Multiplier | The factor by which gross rent is multiplied in order to obtain an estimate of value. |
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| Improvement | Anything done to raw land with the intention of increasing its value. |
| Income | The payments to its owner that a property is able to produce in a given time span. |
| Income Approach | Uses capitalization to convert the anticipated benefits of the ownership of property into an estimate of present value. |
| Intangible Property | Evidence of ownership of value or the right to value, for notes, bonds, stocks, etc. |
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| Land Contract | A contract for sale in which the seller retains title until the buyer completes installment payments for the property. |
| Leasehold | The interests in a property that are associated with the lessee as opposed to the lessor. |
| Legal Description | A statement in words or codes identifying land for all purposes of law. |
| Location Obsolescence | Loss in value due to sub-optimal siting of an improvement. |
| Market | The place in which buyers and sellers interact. |
| Market Price | The price a particular buyer and seller agree to in a particular transaction. |
| Market Value | The most probable sale price of a property in terms of money in a competitive and open market. |
| Mass Appraisal | The process of valuing a group of properties as of a given date, using standard methods, and allowing for statistical testing. |
| Neighborhood | The environment of a subject property that has a direct and immediate effect on value. |
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| Parcel | A contiguous area of land described in a single description or as one of a number of lots on a plat. |
| Parcel Identification System | The scheme by which parcel identifiers are generated. |
| Parcel Identifiers | A code, usually numerical, representing a specific land parcel's legal description. |
| Plat | A map intended to show the division of land into lots or parcels. |
| Property | An aggregate of things or rights to things. These rights are protected by law. |
| Personal Property | All property other than real property - moveable. |
| Property Split | A result of the sale of a piece of property held by a single owner such that different pieces of the property are owned by different owners. |
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| Real Property | The rights to land and its improvements. |
| Remaining Economic Life | The number of years remaining in the economic life of a building or other improvement as of the date of the appraisal. |
| Replacement Cost | The cost, including material, labor, and overhead, that would be incurred in constructing an improvement having the same utility to its owner as the improvement in question. |
| Sale Price | The price for which a property was sold. |
| Sales Comparison Approach | Estimates a property value by reference to comparable sales. |
| Sale Data | Information about the nature of the transaction. |
| Sales File | A file of sales data. |
| Site Characteristics | Characteristics of a particular property, such as land size, shape, topography, etc. |
| Tangible Property | Actual physical property. |
| Tax Base | The total of all the assessed values in a given community. |
| Tax Rate | The percentage of assessed value at which each property is taxed in a given district. |
| Title | The union of all elements constituting proof of ownership. |
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| Valuation | The process or business of appraising. |
| Value | The estimate sought in valuation. |
| Warranty Deed | A deed conveying to the grantee title to the property free and clear of all encumbrances except those stated in the deed itself. |
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