Herreid board hears many valuation appeals




The Herreid local board of equalization met Monday and Tuesday, March 20-21, to deal with almost 60 local assessed valuation appeals.

All of the properties in Herreid had been reassessed by the Campbell County director of equalization’s office last summer, and the new assessed valuations were used for the notices that property owners received earlier this year. There are about 360-370 total parcels in the community. The last city-wide reappraisal was in 2010.

As defined by state law, the Herreid local board of equalization included the six Herreid Council members (Adrienne Dupper, Troy Fuehrer, James Haak, Abbie McNiel, Eugene Quaschnick and Gary Weismantel), Herreid Mayor David Kary and a Herreid School District representative (Carina Flemmer). Because the board had eight members, a majority of five was needed to pass any actions, even if some board members abstained in certain cases.

County DOE Jill Hoogeveen was also present for all of the appeals. She told the board that a number of factors are considered in their software program to help determine a property’s assessed valuation. Some of the factors include age of structures, square footage, condition/ quality, porches, garages, heating, air-conditioning, finished or unfinished basement, etc.

The total assessed valuation for a property was then arrived at by combining the values of the house, garages and other structures (if they applied to a particular property) and the value of the lot. In many instances, Hoogeveen had included supporting data, such as similar homes or lot sizes or actual sales, to support the assessed valuations that she had arrived at.

The appeals covered a full range of properties in Herreid, from those on the upper end with new assessed valuations of over $200,000 on down to older homes with assessed valuations of less than $20,000. Some of the appeals were simply on empty lots.

In general, the board agreed with the new valuations on lots, and made very few changes to those recommendations. If changes were made on lot valuations, it was generally because of extenuating circumstances, such as flooding whenever there is heavy rainfall or snow melt in the spring. In very general terms, a typical lot of approximately 140’ x 150′ is valued at about $7,500.

In some instances, Hoogeveen had met with property owners prior to the equalization meeting to discuss the new valuations and had agreed to lower the valuations for various reasons. During the two nights of meetings, she had also suggested lowering the condition rating of some properties, which resulted in lower valuations.

In those instances where Hoogeveen did not have any suggestions and felt that her assessed valuation amount should not be changed, the local board generally took action to lower the valuations anyway. In these instances, in very general terms, the new assessed valuation amounts approved by the local board were in a range between the assessed valuation amount set by the DOE and the valuation suggested by the property owner.

In a few instances, the local board agreed to leave the valuation at the amount set by Hoogeveen.

By state law, two appeals that did not meet the filing deadline were not considered by the local board.

The local board of equalization is the first step in the appeal process. All of the individuals who had filed appeals have been formally notified of the action taken by the local board. If they agree with the action and the county DOE has decided to not take the appeal to the county level for more discussion, the process ends.

If DOE Hoogeveen does not agree with decisions that were made by the local board, she can bring an appeal to the county board of equalization. In a like manner, a local property owner can bring an appeal to the county board if he/she does not agree with the local decision.

The county board of equalization meets on Tuesday, April 11. Appeals to that board need to be filed in the County director of equalization’s office by Tuesday, April 4. Appeals from rural property owners, if any, are also heard at that time.

The complete list of appeals and board action is found elsewhere in this edition of the Pioneer.



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