Assessment reduced on Bronze Bay homes

The Kootenai County Assessor’s Office has reduced the assessments on a handful of Spirit Lake waterfront homes by 20 percent.

Similar properties throughout the county – mostly small lakefront cabins with septic restrictions that prohibit owners from making those homes much bigger – have also been assigned lower values.

Assessor Mike McDowell said the changes were made as the result of appeals filed by retired attorney Sid Wurzburg on behalf of his neighbors at Spirit Lake’s Bronze Bay.

Wurzburg argued that the properties at Bronze Bay were assessed at the same rate or higher than Spirit Lake waterfront property closer to town with larger lots, more amenities and fewer building restrictions.

The septic limitations placed on the properties by Panhandle Health were the reason for the adjustments, McDowell said. Owners are only allowed to increase the size of the homes one time and only by 10 percent.

McDowell said the restrictions mean the smaller cabins – many around 700 to 800-square-feet – can’t be renovated into year-round homes.

Sales prices for similar properties on Hayden Lake showed a 20 percent adjustment was warranted, McDowell said, and that’s why his office opted to reduce the assessments by about 20 percent.

Initially, McDowell said the Spirit Lake properties were assessed fairly and that the appraisals were consistent with other similar properties throughout the county. The assessor said he even went out with his appraisers to look at the properties.

McDowell said it was the restrictions by Panhandle Health – brought to his attention by Wurzburg – that made him reconsider.

“We got our relief this year,” Wurzburg said. “I think it’s a wise decision. I’m happy with what we got.”