A City and Borough of Juneau property assessment is the Assessor’s determination of the fair market value of your property as of January 1, 2022. For residential properties, values for single-family homes in Juneau went up by 8.4% on average over the last year. This market activity is reflected in CBJ’s 2022 property assessments. The increase in value was driven by a high demand for homes, low supply of new homes, and rapidly rising building costs. Average assessment increases for single-family homes by neighborhood range from as little as 5% out Thane Road to as much as 12.2% in the Casey Shattuck (Flats) neighborhood.

Residential properties become worth more when people are willing to pay more. 2021 saw about 800 residential sales in Juneau; CBJ has sale prices for roughly half of them. Here are details on what drove residential property values up:

• With so many buyers in the market and so few homes to buy, sale prices tended to exceed asking prices. In the 2021 housing market, it was not uncommon for sellers to receive multiple offers including escalating contingencies from buyers trying to make sure they were not out-bid. Some homes were purchased with additional cash above and beyond what could be financed based on a market appraisal.
• Interest rates — essentially the cost to borrow money — were also historically low. Lower interest rates give buyers additional purchasing power, and that purchasing power created high demand among limited supply.
• Prices for lumber and other building materials surged last year, as did labor costs. These price inputs increase the cost to replace a home, which in turn increases the prices that buyers were willing to pay.

Generally, commercial property assessments did not go up at the same rate as residential. Overall, commercial assessed property values increased 2.31% from 2021 to 2022. The 2% overall increase did not keep up with 2021 market trends, which indicated a 5% increase. Sales information continues to be a challenge for commercial assessments. In 2021, there were 62 recorded market transactions CBJ is aware of. CBJ only has sales information on 13 of these transactions.

Why do CBJ assessments matter? Your property taxes are calculated by multiplying your assessed value with the millage rate, so it is important that your assessed value is accurate. Until the Juneau Assembly finishes next year’s city budget and sets the property tax rate in June, no one knows exactly what their individual property tax bill will look like. The Assembly has the authority to reduce or increase the mill rate, or keep it flat.

CBJ sent out property assessment notices on March 8. If you think your property was inaccurately assessed, you must file a petition for review by Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. If you have questions or concerns about your valuation, please contact the Assessor Office at 907-586-5215 or [email protected] for assistance. As a reminder, petitions for review can be filed electronically. Staff are here to assist you in any way to ensure your petition is filed and received. The petition for review form can be found here or through this link: juneau.org/finance/assessor-forms.

For more information, contact the Assessor Office at 907- 586-5215 or [email protected].

Please watch for a white postcard from the City and Borough of Juneau Office of the Assessor to appear in your mailbox. This is your annual notice of the Assessor’s determination of the fair market value of your property as of January 1, 2022. You can also find your 2022 real property values online on the Assessor’s Database.

Your property taxes are calculated by multiplying your assessed value with the millage rate, so it is important that your assessed value is accurate.

CBJ sent out property assessment notices on March 8. The 30-day period to file a petition for review ends Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. Property owners who have errors or omissions regarding their assessed values must advise the Assessor in writing by this deadline. If you have questions or concerns about your valuation, please contact the Assessor Office at 907-586-5215 or [email protected] for assistance.

As a reminder, petitions for review can be filed electronically. Staff are here to assist you in any way to ensure your petition is filed and received. The petition for review form can be found here or through this link: juneau.org/finance/assessor-forms.

Once the form is filled out and supporting documents are assembled, please use one of the following methods to submit it:

• email to [email protected]
• fax to 907-586-4520
• drop off the physical form and supporting documents at one of the CBJ drop boxes located at SuperBear IGA in the Valley, Foodland IGA downtown, or in the Assessor Office located in City Hall

Assessor Office staff is available by phone or email to assist you through this process. Please call 586-5215 or email [email protected].

City and Borough of Juneau property taxes may be paid in two installments in 2021. If you are paying property taxes in installments, the remainder of your balance must be paid by January 3, 2022 in order to avoid penalties.

There are four ways to make payments:

• Mail your payment to the City and Borough of Juneau, Treasury Office, 155 South Seward St, Juneau, AK 99801. The payment must be postmarked by the United States Postal Service on or before January 3, 2022.
• Drop off at one of the CBJ’s three drop box locations at Super Bear IGA, Foodland IGA, or City Hall. The payment must be deposited in the drop box on or before January 3, 2022.
• Pay by credit card through ACIPayOnline.com or by phone at 800-272-9829. For payments to CBJ, use jurisdiction code 1202. Transactions are subject to a convenience fee and must be initiated on or before January 3, 2022.
• Pay at City Hall during regular business hours (8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday), though please be prepared to wait while social distancing. In-person payment must be received by the Treasury Office on or before January 3, 2022. Credit cards cannot be used if paying at City Hall.

The Tax Billing Office is sending reminder letters out this week to residents who have a current 2021 property tax balance. If you do not receive it or have questions regarding payment of your property taxes, please call the Tax Billing Office at 907-586-5215 ext. 4907.

Every month, the City and Borough of Juneau Finance Department posts a list of property owners with delinquent property taxes on its website. On November 8, the Finance Department posted an inaccurate list that included many owners whose property tax payments are, indeed, up-to-date. A member of the public notified CBJ of this error and the list was taken down November 23. The Finance Department apologizes for any confusion created by the inaccurate published list.

Delinquent property taxes is public information and municipalities around the country publish such lists. CBJ Finance Department posts the list online in two places (here and here) around the first week of the month and updates it on a monthly basis.

The recent error stems from a new way CBJ is collecting property tax payments. Up until this year, property owners were required to pay property taxes in full by September 30. Following an ordinance passed in August, property owners can now pay 80 percent of their property tax balance by September 30 and the remainder of the balance by December 31. The Finance Department’s system that processes property taxes did not take this update into account when it produced a list of delinquent property tax payers. Again, the Finance Department apologizes for the error.

The Finance Department will post a new updated property tax delinquency list on its website after January 1, 2022, and will continue its monthly updates thereafter.

For more information, contact Finance Director Jeff Rogers at 907-723-6907 or [email protected].