Kootenai Due Relief From Taxing Appeals Officials To Hear Last Of 950 Assessment Cases

Kootenai County will wrap up nearly two months of property assessment appeals today.

Commissioners will hear the last of nearly 950 appeals - 20 times as many as last year - at 4:30 p.m. The state tax commission had set today as the deadline.

“Everybody will heave a big sigh of relief,” said Darlene King, the commissioners’ office manager. “The roof will probably lift off the courthouse.”

Since mid-June, commissioners have heard outraged county residents complain nine hours a day that the value of their land and homes is too high. Property taxes are levied as a percentage of those values.

County staffers have not tallied the results of those appeals, but estimate reductions were given to 20 percent of the property owners. Final tallies must be complete for the state by next Thursday.

Most homeowners saw their property values increase by more than 10 percent. Some in Post Falls and Hayden Lake saw values double or triple.

The trouble started in mid-May when assessment notices showed property values had increased by $850 million from last year - a 25 percent boost from 1994’s $3.4 billion.

Assessor Tom Moore said that a near 10 percent rise in home sale prices in 1994 drove up the value of neighboring homes. Additionally, some property reappraisals were not completed last year and had to be tacked on to 1995’s tax roll.

County commissioners say taxes probably won’t rise this year for most property owners. But those whose land values increased dramatically probably will see a slight jump in their tax bill.

Actual tax rates, which typically fall below 1.75 percent, will be set in coming months as the county’s 44 taxing districts set their budgets.

, DataTimes