Property assessment appeal deadline Monday

COEUR d'ALENE — Monday at 5 p.m. is the deadline for Kootenai County residents wishing to file for an appeal of their property assessment.

"We are always glad to meet with property owners and discuss our estimate of their market value," said Mike McDowell, Kootenai County assessor. "However, after Monday we will not be able to make any changes to our assessment roll for this year."

If residents decide to appeal the assessed value of their property, they should, in order:

• Discuss the assessment with a representative from the Assessor's Office by calling 446-1500, emailing [email protected] or stopping by the office on the county's downtown Coeur d'Alene campus.

• Submit five copies of the appeal packet to the Kootenai County commissioners' office (Packet copies must be delivered or postmarked by Monday. Email or fax submissions will not be accepted).

• Schedule your appeal hearing with the Board of Equalization. (This is done in the commissioners' office when you turn in your appeal packet.)

Appeal forms are available at www.kcgov.us and the assessor's office.

Appeal hearings start on Wednesday and will continue on consecutive days after that as necessary.

The Board of Equalization ensures the market value placed on properties by the county is fair and accurate. The board can't adjust value based on the amount of taxes due or on your ability to pay the amount on your property tax statement.

"These are not tax appeals; they're valuation appeals," said Rich Houser, chief deputy assessor.

Houser said the overall valuation, or estimated market value, in the county this year went up 6 percent.

"The valuation was based on real estate sales in 2015," Houser said.

Houser said the assessments on most properties went up, but the amounts vary by neighborhood.

"Some areas did not see an increase and other neighborhoods had more of an increase (than 6 percent)," he said.

Houser said the county mailed out 77,000 assessment notices. As of Friday, the office had fewer than 300 inquiries. Fewer than 20 appeals had been filed.

"That tells us that our assessments are not overstated," he said, referring to the extremely low number of appeals. "Our goal is to make sure assessments are fair — nothing more, nothing less."

Houser said the county had as many as 1,000 appeals during some of the boom years, and last year there were about 300 appeals.

"This year we're well below the average (number of appeals)," he said.

Houser said he believes residents are more easily informed of their property value through online sites and the county's website and that could be another reason for the low number of appeals.

The 6 percent valuation jump may also not be raising too many eyebrows based on recent media reports that real estate sales are increasing, he said.

"In the early 2000s, when there'd be a 30 percent jump, that's what would bring people out (for appeals)," he said.