About the McCracken County PVA Office

The PVA office is a Kentucky State government office with county jurisdiction. The PVA (Property Valuation Administrator) is a locally elected official charged with assessing all property, both real and personal, that lies within McCracken County. Exceptions to this include public service companies, bank shares, and omitted tangible properties which are valued by the state Revenue Cabinet in Frankfort.

In a nutshell… we are a third party agency that assesses property for which taxing entities base their tax rates.

What We Do

The PVA is responsible for the fairness and equality in the property tax system. This is accomplished by ensuring state laws that define how each property is to be assessed are applied to everyone equally. State laws require each property be assessed at fair cash value. We also maintain taxpayer filed tangible property reports. These real and personal property assessments are used by taxing entities to determine tax rates. Taxing entities are city, county & state governments as well as the library, school boards, fire districts and a few others.

The Kentucky Constitution requires equality and uniformity through fair cash value assessments. Fair Cash Value (FCV) is defined as the price that a property will bring in a fair voluntary sale between a willing seller and a willing buyer.

We Do Not Bill or Collect

Our office is often visited by tax payers wanting to pay their tax bills. Hence the phrase “We do not bill or collect.” This phrase means we do not send tax bills and we do not take tax payments.

  • The city finance department and Sheriff’s office send tax bills to taxpayers for real estate and tangible property taxes.
  • The state sends bills for vehicles, boats, trailers, campers, etc.
  • The Sheriff’s office and city finance department collect tax payments.

Tax Exempt

All property is taxable unless specifically exempted by the Kentucky Constitution. The Constitution expressly prohibits exemption of any property or persons except those allowed by the Constitution itself. Thus, taxation is the rule and exemption is the exception. Currently, examples of such exemptions are the Homestead Exemption for age 65 and older, Disability for 100% totally disabled individuals, some religious, educational, and governmental properties, etc.. Formal application must be made with the PVA office before any exemption can be granted. More information is available here.