Unappealing Situation Hundreds Of Complaints Filed After Values Raised

William Harrison sat stiffly and listened as the appraiser spoke of market values, comparable sales and trending.

The value of his Cougar Gulch property has risen 52 percent in two years.

“It is irrelevant to me how it happens,” Harrison responded through pursed lips. “It’s not right.”

A half-hour later, his assessment appeal - one of nearly 1,000 Kootenai County commissioners will hear this summer - was over. Harrison lost. His home was worth $125,000. Period.

He sighed.

“You guys didn’t help me a bit, but you did enlighten me,” Harrison told commissioners and appraiser John Spens, with no animosity. “And there are a lot of me out there.”

“We know,” Spens said. “We’re seeing 40 a day.”

That’s how it’s been for county commissioners since mid-June, when they were hit with a record-breaking number of appeals from angry homeowners.

The appeals process - normally a casual two-week interruption for commissioners - has turned into a two-month ordeal. With more than 500 to go, commissioners are booked until at least Aug. 4.

Commissioners have done nothing but hear appeals - 359 so far - for nine hours each day. Few homeowners have their land values reduced as much as they’d like, but many have seen minor deductions.

“It’s like it will never end sometimes,” Commissioner Dick Panabaker said Friday.

“June 12 seems like years ago,” Commission Chairman Dick Compton said.

Despite hearing hundreds of the same arguments and complaints, commissioners and appraisers remain patient. During several hearings Friday, commissioners worked hard to remain courteous.

At the start of a morning appeal Friday, Compton told Hayden Lake homeowner Douglas Nustad, “This is something like No. 496 for us and I know it’s No. 1 for you, so we’ll try not to sound jaded.”

Nustad’s case was typical. After introducing Nustad to appraiser Louise Weed, commissioners Compton and Panabaker picked up some forms, straightened in their chairs and got started:

“Seventy-thousand. Hmm,” Compton said. “Must be a hell of a garage.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Nustad said, with hope.

Weed broke in. “I think there’s some confusion here,” she said. “The garage itself is $37,000. The $70,655 includes other improvements and the mobile home.”

“There’s a mobile home in the garage?” Panabaker asked.

“No,” Nustad said.

In the end, Nustad’s property was slightly reduced: Commissioners cut $7,000 in value from his garage.

It’s better than nothing, Nustad said.

The battle began when assessors increased the value of about 48,000 of the county’s nearly 60,000 parcels of land. Most jumped by about 10 percent, but many doubled or tripled.

Assessor Tom Moore maintains he’s just doing his job: bringing property to within 90 percent of what it would sell for.

That does little to soothe residents who see their home values skyrocket when they’ve made no changes to their property.

“We know how they feel,” Panabaker said. “We’d like to lower them for everybody, but we just can’t.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo