Fewer Appealing Land Assessments Hikes In Value More Modest Than Last Year

In stark contrast to a year ago, less than 100 Kootenai County residents have picked up applications to appeal their property assessments - and only five have actually filed appeals.

Ten days after Assessor Tom Moore mailed out 62,000 assessment notices, complaints are filtering in only sluggishly.

“We’ve had a lot of questions, a lot of inquiries, but it’s more like a typical year,” said Deputy Assessor Mike McDowell. “It’s been sporadic. Sometimes we’ve had two or three people at the door.”

Last May and June, homeowners lined the hallways in the courthouse, where tax activist Ron Rankin set up camp and coached residents on filing appeals. More than 900 filed the appeals, keeping county commissioners busy eight hours a day for two months.

Not this time. At least not yet.

“We may get a few days down there this year, but with all that’s going on I’m not sure,” said Rankin, who earlier this week won a primary victory over incumbent Republican commissioner Bob Macdonald.

Even Rankin admits fewer property owners saw spikes in the values used by government budget-makers to calculate property taxes.

Countywide, property values jumped $430 million compared to $900 million last year. Nearly a third of the increase this year is from new construction.

Population centers, meanwhile, saw only marginal increases. Coeur d’Alene property values crept up 1 percent while Post Falls landowners saw a 7 percent increase.

Some rural landowners, however, believe they got socked.

Richard Wandrocke, a retired business consultant, filed an appeal Thursday. The value of his Fairmont Loop home only increased a few thousand dollars from the year before - to $247,000 - but the value has clearly dropped in a softening real estate market. He has the home listed for sale at $219,000 and hasn’t had an offer in nearly a year.

“It’s not like it’s run down or needs paint or anything,” he said. “That’s not the problem. It’s a beautiful home.”

The hardest hit have been the outlying areas - Rathdrum, Athol, Bayview and Spirit Lake - where 37 percent increases or more were common.

Ask George Guyette, a 52-year-old aluminum plant lab technician. His land with a trailer home in Athol jumped from $33,000 to $61,000.

“It’s ridiculous … insane,” he said. “I talked to them (appraisers) and they said ‘That’s what you could get for it in a sale.’ I said ‘Well, send the guy over, then.”’

He plans to file an appeal today.

Not all homeowners believe they have recourse. Rathdrum’s Terry Smith isn’t appealing his $127,000 assessment because he just bought the land last June. But he’s not convinced his land alone has increased $3,000 above what he paid for it.

“I’m going to let it slide, but if it goes up again next year, I’ll appeal,” he said.

Like last year, Rankin plans to host a one-evening seminar on assessment appeals between now and the June 24 filing deadline.

But it’s not clear if enough of 1995’s outrage remains to match last year’s standing-room-only attendance.

County workers, meanwhile, have offered barely a handful of over-the-counter reductions.

Last year, the sheer volume of complaints prompted dozens of such changes.

“We had one guy who had an extra zero tacked on to his $50,000 house value, but that’s about it,” McDowell said.

, DataTimes