Comparing and contrasting property tax oversight systems - Idaho and The Netherlands

Property tax system administration may occur at national, sub-national, or local levels and includes identification and valuation of taxable property, establishing tax rates, and billing and collection of taxes. Regardless of the initial assignment of responsibilities for these functions, both internal and external oversight are crucial to: • Providing accountability; • Maintaining public trust; • Ensuring compliance with laws; • Producing a transparent property tax system. Although much of this can be accomplished by internal quality control mechanisms, the existence of an oversight body operating independently from the valuation agency or those responsible for the tax components enables such independent corroboration of adherence to laws and good principles and practices. This type of multi-layered system exists in many places and this paper presents two such models – one in the State of Idaho in the United States and the other in The Netherlands - including the evolution of each system and how each system relates to guidance provided by the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO).