“Property tax reevaluations hope to answer questions” plus 3 more

Property tax reevaluations hope to answer questions
Multnomah County voters may face property tax measure to support historical societies
Tax rolls confirm revenue reduction
City Council approves certified property tax rate of $1.745

Property tax reevaluations hope to answer questions

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 09:00 AM PDT

MOUNT VERNON — Does every property owner pay his or her fair share of property taxes? That seems to be the question at the heart of recent actions taken by the Mount Vernon City School District and the Knox County Board of Revisions.

The school district asked the Board of Revisions to reevaluate several properties to ensure the buyer was being charged the correct amount of property tax on the parcels. School treasurer Barb Donohue said it was an effort to make sure other taxpayers are not unfairly picking up the difference in taxes on the previous value and the true sale, or market, value. Because property values are based on an average of the neighborhood property values, if the new owner pays taxes on the actual (higher) sales value, the theory goes, taxes for other residents in the district will then go down.

Knox County Commissioner Allen Stockberger, who serves on the Board of Revisions along with Knox County Auditor Jonette Curry and Knox County Treasurer Sandra Mizer, said it's a complex matter, and there has been confusion and miscommunication on many levels.

"In the big picture," Stockberger explained, "Donohue's theory is valid, but here is an example. AEP recently bought a property that was previously listed as agricultural. Since they paid a commercial/industrial price, that is more than the current assessed value. So, after the appeal by the school district, AEP will pay more for two or three years. The taxes for other district residents, however, will not go down, if at all, until the triennial update."

Curry explained the triennial update as follows: "Every three years, county property sale prices are accumulated. For this triennial, all sales prices for 2008, '09 and '10 will be submitted to the state. The state will then determine what the average [assessed value] should be. The current average for Knox County is about 91 percent."

"The cases filed by the school board in 2010, which are for tax year 2009, have been settled at 91 percent of actual sales price," Curry added. "The owner, however, is still only taxed on 35 percent. Say we agree we are going to tax that taxpayer at 91 percent of the sale price. Whatever magic number that is, we're going to multiply that by 35 percent to get their assessed value, which is then what their taxes are based on."

"We'll go to 91 percent of the sale price for the 2009 tax year," said Stockberger. "Since 2011 is a triennial update year, that value is most likely to go back down some. It [the sale price] will figure in the (county) average and reflect the community neighborhood values."

The board of revisions, Stockberger said, hasn't had a lot of experience with appeals that say a property is worth more than its assessed value. "Typically, most of the complaints we handle are the other way around. People say their property is not worth as much as we say it is. We're not accustomed to people complaining that we didn't have it valued high enough, as the school district has done in some, mostly commercial, cases. A classic example is the Kroger case."

Curry gave the specifics. "In the case of the Kroger purchase of Bullock's Smoke Shop on Coshocton Avenue, we had it appraised at $269,830. The actual purchase price was $1 million. We now have it valued at $915,390, or 91 percent."

One positive thing that has come out of this, Curry said, is that the auditor's office is looking more closely at conveyance forms filed by the purchaser, title company or realtor.

"In one case," she said, "the conveyance form listed the total sale price on a commercial property. That's why the school filed the original complaint, because their indicator is the sale price. Because of this [appeals] process the schools have opted to go on the originals, it has made the parties involved aware that possibly the conveyance form wasn't completed correctly. There's a total price, but did the form indicate all the different things that make up the sale price? You have to separate out the cost of the real estate with other items involved in the sale. The buyer came in and gave us some additional information pertaining to tangible items that were included in the total and we adjusted the real estate value accordingly."

"We've run into several situations like that," Stockberger said, "where someone's bought a commercial business, and, unfortunately the person filing the conveyance form for them includes everything. Not only does that skew the record for the true value of the real estate, but they're actually paying more in conveyance fees than they really need to."

The appeals filed in 2009, which are for tax year 2008, have not yet been resolved. Curry said those cases are sitting in Columbus with the Board of Tax Appeals. Because of a large backlog, the BTA may not be able to schedule a hearing on them for three to four years. Therefore, Curry said, the BTA has asked the county to mediate the disputes. Letters concerning the mediation process will be sent to the property owners involved, she said.

Several of the tax year 2008 cases, Curry said, involve agricultural property which is taxed on a Current Agricultural Usage Valuation. That means the tax is not based on market value or actual purchase price; it is based on the soil type found on the property. Stockberger said changing the market value on those properties, as requested by the school district, would not result in higher taxes for the property owner nor would the school district get more money for that property.

pschehl@mountvernonnews.com

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Multnomah County voters may face property tax measure to support historical societies

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 12:13 PM PDT

By Steve Law

The Portland Tribune, Aug 12, 2010, Updated 51 minutes ago

The final numbers are in, and the city of The Colony is facing a 2.4-percent reduction in property tax revenue for the next fiscal year.

The certified tax rolls were released on Thursday, with The Colony officially bringing in $2.1 billion in property taxes. Though there was new construction in town last year with a taxable value of approximately $53 million, existing values decreased by about $105 million, resulting in a net reduction of $51.9 million, Finance Director Rebecca Lai said.

Despite the dip, no one is pushing the panic button at City Hall. Lai said the city has been planning ahead for months in anticipation of a decline in tax revenue.

�We have been working to reduce the budget so as to bring everything to a balanced budget,� Lai said. Reductions have included the elimination of 14 staff positions as well as line-items within city departments.

Lai said no more personnel layoffs are planned, and because the cuts are coming from within city departments, residents should not notice a difference in terms of services.

�The little bits that we have to change are coming out of departments� line-items without affecting personnel or services. We are trying to maintain the same level of services. It�s difficult but we are working on it,� she said. �No program has been cut.�

Once approved by the city council, the budget will be officially adopted on Sept. 21. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 17 at City Hall, at which residents are encouraged to attend and share their opinions on the financial direction of the city.

City staff members will make a formal presentation of the proposed budget, which includes a .25-cent reduction to the tax rate, at the next city council meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.

A public hearing specifically related to the tax rate is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 7. Once finalized, the budget will take effect at the start of the next fiscal year, Oct. 1.

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City Council approves certified property tax rate of $1.745

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 10:01 AM PDT

NEWPORT-The Newport City Council approved a certified property tax rate when it met Tuesday at City Hall.

The new rate of $1.7452 per $100 assessed value of a home is down from last year's rate of $2.04 per $100 assessed value.

Before the Council voted, Alderman Luke Goddard asked City Administrator Scott Collins, "That means a no net increase in taxes, right?"

Collins agreed with Goddard's comment, that there would be no net increase in taxes with the new rate.

By Tennessee law, a municipality cannot take in more property tax revenue than the total amount received the previous year. However, revenue from new construction not counted in the current assessment can be added to the city's tax revenues. New construction will have the same tax rate of $1.7452.

Resident Dan Proffitt, who lives on Martine Street below KFC on the Cosby Highway, showed photos he said he had taken over the last 35 years that show severe water damage to him home due to flooding caused by rain trapped on Cosby Highway near the area of several fast food restaurants.

"It comes from KFC," Proffitt said. He added, "The more concrete and asphalt (is laid down), the more water we get."

He said his home was flooded when the Cosby Highway was a two-lane road, "but got much worse after the four-lane" was built.

Kendall Williams, of Williams Lawn Care, who lives on Martine Street across from Proffitt, said, "People have promised and promised the problem would be fixed," but haven't done so.

Williams also said, "I think the city needs to be less about, 'Let's do this so we get more tax money,'" and more about fixing current problems, such as the flooding.

"Restaurants are what caused this problem," Williams said.

Alderman Johnny Bugg agreed the problem needed to be fixed.

"We can fix this. I saw the pictures (of flooding); it's horrible. (However), the Lord said to be anxious about nothing."

"I think we need to fix it," Alderman Kenny Morgan said.

Morgan asked the city administrator to look in a loan or grant, "or whatever we need to do," to stop the flooding of homes on Martine Street. Collins said he would do that.

Municipal Judge Bill Myers informed the Council that a new driver's training program for offenders with their first traffic violations has been set up.

"The state has set up the system," Myers said.

"It won't affect fines and court costs," Myers said. He added, "We're implementing the course at the discretion of the court."

He said the four-hour courses are held in six locations in the region, which does not include Newport. Myers said Newport did not have enough traffic violators to warrant a course be held locally.

The board also approved Newport Utilities to apply for a $2.6 million loan from the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund.

The board also approved two roadblock requests.

The Long Creek Volunteer Department will have a fund-raising roadblock on Oct. 9.

"Friends of the Animal Shelter" will have a roadblock Dec. 11.

Newport Police Department Chief Maurice Shults said "effective last Saturday (Aug. 7), people participating in the roadblock must be 18 years of age and wear a safety vest."

Shults said, "We feel strict enforcement of this policy" is needed.

The Tanner Community Action Initiative presented a plaque to an evidently surprised Collins for being a friend of the African-American community.

The city administrator was called "a friend of a friend".

The term refers to the Underground Railroad in the 19th century when African-American slaves escaped to freedom.

The slaves would go to designated spots and hide. When someone came by, they would say, "Who goes there?" If the response was "a friend of a friend," then the slave would know it was safe to come out.

Shedenna Dockery of the TCAI presented the plaque to Collins.

In addition, four proclamations recognizing their achievements were approved:

• For City of Newport firefighters who helped raise almost $2,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Association outside Walmart on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7;

• For the Lunachix 8 and under coach softball squad, which won fourth place in the state tournament and fifth place in the USSSA World Series; and

• Separately, for Eagle Scouts Shaun Scott Shelton and Richard Andrew ("Andy") Hooper.

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Property Tax

Thursday, August 12, 2010