Proposal would speed up tax assessment appeals process

Spokane County Assessor Ralph Baker thinks taxpayers should get a speedy resolution instead of a refund when he makes a mistake.

County officials planned a meeting today to discuss Baker’s proposal to process tax assessment appeals before disputed taxes are due.

Currently, the county Board of Equalization doesn’t resolve many appeals until months after taxes on disputed assessments are due.

The last of 1,502 appeals filed in 2006 was heard in September 2007 – almost a year after the last tax payment was due. The Board of Equalization is now working on 1,921 appeals that were filed last year.

“It shouldn’t take a year to get your appeal heard,” Baker said.

So he has asked county commissioners and the county Board of Equalization, which hears appeals, to implement a phased plan that calls for this year’s appeals be resolved by Oct. 31 – when the second half of this year’s property taxes are due.

Next year’s appeals would have to be resolved before first-half taxes are due on April 30, 2009, under Baker’s proposal.

“Overall, I applaud his efforts,” said Joe Mann, chairman of the Board of Equalization. “I’d like to be able to do it as well, but that’s awfully ambitious based on the number of appeals we are getting.”

While Baker has suggested the Board of Equalization conduct two half-day sessions a week instead of one, Mann thinks it would be more productive for the assessor’s office to resolve more appeals before the board has to conduct a hearing.

“We’re in support of anything that will benefit the taxpayer,” but the current six-member board can’t meet more than half a day a week, Mann said.

“This is a volunteer board and none of us can afford that much time away from our work,” he said. He said the board might be expanded to include two panels, but the board’s staff would have to be expanded.

Mann said the board is moving to streamline its process, and decided Monday to impose a time limit on oral testimony.

Mann believes the fundamental problem is that Baker doesn’t have enough appraisers to take a closer look at appellants’ homes.

Most appeals – more than 900 of those filed in 2006 – are resolved with stipulated agreements in which the assessor’s office agrees a lower assessment is appropriate.

Also, many appeals are withdrawn when appraisers convince homeowners they can’t meet their burden of proving the assessor wrong with “clear, cogent and convincing evidence.”

Only 17 appellants in 2006 won in Board of Equalization hearings that can’t consider hardship or the size of tax bills or the amount of increase.

To see the winning cases and advice on how to present a solid appeal, visit the assessor’s Web site at http://www.spokanecounty.org/assessor/YourAssessedValueAppeal.asp.