BENTON COUNTY — County officials are readying for the annual property tax appeals cycle, with change in value notices sent to about 3,100 property owners.
Assessor Bear Chaney said notices were mailed beginning July 13, and the staff already has received calls from property owners with questions. Chaney said he expects this year to be less hectic than 2011, when a reappraisal was done.
“The ones we sent out this year are just where they made some changes,” Chaney said. “They added a detached garage, built a swimming pool or tore down an old building.”
Chaney said his office added something new to theprocess this year by sending out notices of all changes in value, both increases and decreases. Of the 3,100 notices the county sent, he said, about 2,500 were for increases and the other 600 were for decreases.
“We thought people would like to know when there were any changes, whether it was an increase or a decrease,” Chaney said.
Chaney encourages those with questions that can’t be resolved over the phone to come to the Assessor’s Office and meet with an appraiser to go over details of their property value. If they remain unsatisfied, he said, they can appeal to the Board of Equalization.
Chaney said people need to understand they can only appeal the current valuation of their property, not the previous year’s.
County Clerk Tena O’Brien said she also thinks 2012 will see fewer cases for the Equalization Board than 2011.
“I expect there will be fewer appeals to the Equalization Board since it’s not a reappraisal year and values have gone down, I believe,” O’Brien said.
Last year, according to records in the County Clerk’s office, there were 898 cases taken to the board. Of those, O’Brien said, 48 cases were appealed to Benton County Court where County Judge Bob Clinard heard arguments from property owners and the county assessor’s staff and made a decision on the property value.
Clinard said he’s ready for some appeals to be brought to county court, but he also expects less of a load than last year.
“I think we’re still catching up under the 5 percent rule, where property values can only go up by so much a year,” Clinard said. “If there’s going to be any surprises this year, I think it’s going to be people saying, ‘My value has stayed the same and my property tax has gone up.’ That’s because we’re still catching up in some instances.”
Clinard said his experience from last year has given him a comfort level in hearing the appeals, and he thinks most people are satisfied if they believe they have had a chance to present their arguments and someone has listened and considered them.
”I didn’t have any cases last year that were real stumpers,” he said. “I think we did the right thing in every case I heard.”
News, Pages 7 on 08/01/2012