How Property Assessment Is Organized in Alaska

Alaska has no counties, and that one fact shapes how property gets valued here. Instead of a county assessor, the work falls to organized boroughs, unified municipalities and a number of cities. Our directory lists 25 assessment offices under county-style labels so you can browse by region. The office that actually mails your valuation notice is a borough or city department.

The rules come mainly from Title 29 of the Alaska Statutes, the municipal code, and its Chapter 29.45 on property taxation. Assessors value taxable property as of January 1 at full and true value, meaning the likely price in an open-market sale. The local government then applies its mill rate. One mill is one dollar of tax per thousand dollars of assessed value, so a 10-mill rate on a $300,000 assessment produces a $3,000 bill.

Alaska has no statewide property tax on homes or land. The state taxes oil and gas production and pipeline property separately. Your bill for a house, cabin or commercial lot comes from local government only.

What the Alaska State Assessor Does

The Alaska State Assessor works within the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. Our database lists the office at 550 West 7th Avenue in Anchorage, phone 907-269-4605. This office does not value your house. It determines the full value of taxable property in each municipality every year, and the state uses those figures when it calculates school funding and other aid. It also advises local governments on assessment practice.

For an owner, that means value questions start locally. Contact the State Assessor when you cannot tell which local office covers your parcel, or when you think a municipality is skipping the statutory process.

Metro Alaska Versus the Bush: Where Your Assessor Is Located

Where you live decides how easy it is to reach your assessor. Most Alaskans live along the road system, while hundreds of communities sit far off it. Offices range from full departments with public counters to small borough staffs working from a post office box.

Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Road System

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality, so one office values property for the whole municipality, including Eagle River and Girdwood. The database lists the Anchorage County Assessment Office at 632 West 6th Avenue, phone 907-343-6770. Listings for that area are on the Anchorage Municipality County page.

In the Interior, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assessment Office is at 801 Pioneer Road, phone 907-459-1429. The database also carries a second Fairbanks entry at 809 Pioneer Road under a Southeast Fairbanks label, with the same phone number. Call that number whichever entry you start from. More detail is on the Fairbanks North Star County page.

North and south of Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assessment Office is at 350 E. Dahlia Avenue in Palmer, phone 907-861-8642. The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assessment Office is at 144 North Binkley Street in Soldotna, phone 907-714-2230. Both cover large areas where homes, cabins and recreational parcels sit side by side. The Kodiak Island Borough Assessment Office, at 710 Mill Bay Road, reaches island properties by phone at 907-486-9353.

Southeast Alaska's Island Offices

Southeast towns are linked by ferry and air rather than by road, so each community keeps its own office. The City and Borough of Juneau Assessment Office is at 155 South Seward Street, phone 907-586-5220. See the Juneau City and Borough County page for details. The City and Borough of Sitka office is at 100 Lincoln Street, phone 907-747-1820, and is covered under Sitka City and Borough County.

Other Southeast offices in our database include these:

One entry needs care. The Municipality of Skagway listing shows a Sitka street address but a 907-983-2297 phone number. Call before you travel, and do not rely on the street address alone.

Remote Boroughs and Rural Hub Cities

Beyond the road system, an assessor's office may be a few staff members working from a PO box. The North Slope Borough Assessment Office is at PO Box 69 in Barrow, officially Utqiaġvik since 2016, phone 907-852-0355. The Northwest Arctic Borough is at 163 Lagoon Street in Kotzebue, phone 907-442-2500. The Denali Borough is at PO Box 480 in Healy, phone 907-683-1330. In these places, phone and mail do most of the work.

Hub cities such as Bethel (204 State Highway, 907-543-2047), Dillingham (141 Main Street East, 907-842-5211) and Nome (102 Division Street, 907-443-6663) sit in the unorganized borough, where no borough government assesses property. A city there may run its own assessing, or it may not tax property at all. A listing in one of these hubs may therefore cover only property inside city limits. Call first and give your parcel location.

What an Alaska Assessor's Office Can Do for You

Assessors value property. They do not collect payments, record deeds or issue building permits. Within that role, most offices can help with the following:

Before you call or visit, collect your parcel number or street address, your most recent assessment notice, and any evidence you have. Useful evidence includes a recent appraisal, a closing statement, photos of damage, and repair estimates. Staff can answer faster when they can pull the exact parcel.

Exemptions and Appeals Under Alaska Law

State law gives a standard exemption to owners aged 65 or older and to qualifying disabled veterans. It removes the first $150,000 of assessed value from the taxable amount on a primary residence. You have to apply, because assessors do not grant it automatically. Municipalities set their own filing procedures and may add local relief, so ask your office for the form and deadline.

If you think your value is wrong, start with an informal conversation with the assessor. Many errors, such as an incorrect square footage or a finished basement that does not exist, get fixed this way. An informal review does not stop the clock. A formal appeal goes to the local Board of Equalization, and Chapter 29.45 sets the deadline at 30 days from the date the assessment notice was mailed. Check the date on your notice the day it arrives.

If the board rules against you, the next step is an appeal to the Alaska Superior Court. The burden is on you to show the assessment is unequal, excessive or improper, so comparable sales and documented condition problems matter more than general complaints about taxes.

Property assessor offices in Alaska operate under state property tax statutes that specify how properties must be valued, how often reappraisals occur, and what exemptions are available to qualifying homeowners. The state department of revenue or taxation typically provides oversight and technical guidance to county assessors to ensure consistent valuation practices statewide.

Assessor locations are available in 21 cities across Alaska. They are spread across 19 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Fairbanks, Sitka, Anchorage, where high real estate activity and complex commercial properties create greater demand for assessor services and property valuation resources.

Property owners in Alaska should verify that their primary residence homestead exemption is active and confirm the annual appeal deadline with their local assessor office, as missing the deadline means waiting until the following tax year to contest a valuation.

Assessor by Counties

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Many county assessor offices in Alaska now offer online property search tools where homeowners can view their assessed value, recent sales history, and exemption status without visiting the office. If you have questions about a recent reassessment notice, calling or emailing the assessor's office is often the fastest way to get a response before filing a formal appeal.

Browse Assessor by county across Alaska to find the nearest location.

Reaching Alaska Assessors From Anywhere in the State or Outside It

Nearly all of Alaska runs on Alaska Time, which is four hours behind Eastern Time. If you own property here but live in the Lower 48, call after noon Eastern to reach offices as their day begins. Email and mailed letters are often more reliable than a call for the smaller boroughs.

Absentee owners should keep their mailing address current with the assessor. Valuation notices go to the address on record, and a missed notice does not extend the appeal deadline. Recording a new deed does not change where the notice is mailed in every office, so confirm it by phone.

Some database entries overlap. The Aleutians West County and Aleutians East Borough assessment listings both use PO Box 49 in King Cove and the number 907-497-2588, so treat them as a single contact. The Aleutians East County page covers that area. In the Bristol Bay region, the Bristol Bay Borough office in Naknek and the Lake and Peninsula Borough office in King Salmon are separate governments with separate assessors. Both appear under Bristol Bay County.

In fishing communities such as King Cove, Naknek, Kodiak and Petersburg, docks, cold storage and processing plants can make up a large share of the tax roll. If you own commercial waterfront property, expect the assessor to ask about use and improvements. Ask early how your property class is valued.

Alaska Assessor FAQs

No. Alaska has no county governments. Property is assessed by organized boroughs, by the unified municipalities of Anchorage, Juneau and Sitka, and by some individual cities. Our directory uses county-style labels for boroughs and census areas so listings can be browsed by region. The name on your tax notice will be a borough, municipality or city. If your property is inside a borough, start with the borough assessor even if you live in a city within it. If you are in the unorganized borough, first check whether your city levies a property tax.

Under Alaska Statutes Chapter 29.45, a written appeal to the local Board of Equalization is due within 30 days after the date the assessment notice was mailed. The clock runs from the mailing date, not the day the notice reaches your mailbox, which matters in remote areas where mail is slow. Your notice should state the date and where to file. Talking with the assessor informally does not pause the deadline. After the board decides, you may appeal to the Alaska Superior Court.

Yes. State law exempts the first $150,000 of assessed value on a primary residence for owners aged 65 or older and for disabled veterans with a qualifying service-connected disability. The rule appears in AS 29.45.030. You must own and occupy the home as your permanent residence, and you must apply. Assessors do not apply the exemption automatically. Municipalities set their own forms and filing deadlines, and some add further relief. Contact your local assessment office for the application and the date it is due.

Land in the unorganized borough has no borough assessor. If your community is an incorporated city that levies a property tax, the city assesses the property itself or hires an assessor under contract. Many villages tax sales or fuel instead and levy no property tax. Because Alaska has no statewide property tax on homes and land, you may receive no bill at all. If you cannot tell who covers your parcel, call the Alaska State Assessor in Anchorage at 907-269-4605.

The State Assessor, part of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, determines the full value of taxable property in each municipality each year. The state uses those figures for school funding and other aid, and the office advises local governments on assessment practice. It does not set or change the value of an individual home. To dispute your value, work with your local assessor and then the Board of Equalization. The state office can help you identify the right local contact.

No. Deeds are recorded with the state Recorder's Office system run by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, which is organized by recording district. Assessors then use the recorded documents to update ownership on their rolls. That update can take time, so a new owner may still see the former owner's name on a notice. After you buy property, contact the assessor to confirm the owner name and mailing address. Do this before the next valuation notice goes out, so you do not miss the 30-day appeal window.