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County's value tops $16.7B

by Brian Walker; Staff Writer
| June 1, 2018 1:00 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County's total net taxable value is a record $16.7 billion — up 11.8 percent from a year ago — but that doesn't mean residents are jumping for joy because their property’s worth more money.

"Ours went up $40,000," Heidi Warren-Jeremenko said in an online comment about her assessment notice. "I'm afraid to see what my new escrow/mortgage payment will be."

The Kootenai County Assessor's Office mailed out 92,500 assessment notices on Tuesday, with the majority showing various hikes in property values.

"(The increases) in property values depends on sales of properties in your neighborhood," said Rich Houser, the county's chief deputy assessor who is in line to succeed Mike McDowell as assessor in January. “The market — what buyers are willing to pay for properties — drove up values in most cases."

The county's total taxable value as of Jan. 1 this year, reflecting 2017 data, surpassed the previous record of $16.57 billion set on Jan. 1, 2007. That number reflected 2006 numbers, shortly before the nation’s real estate crash and recession.

"It means that we're seeing a healthy, robust economy from a real estate standpoint," McDowell said. "But not everybody is crazy about the amount of growth we're seeing. There's better opportunities for jobs, so, generally speaking, there's probably more good than bad."

While the property value increase is rather steep, it's a far cry from the 30 to 40 percent leaps of the boom years that were "unfathomable," McDowell said.

The most recent year-to-year hike comes on the heels of a 4.25 percent jump — $14.1 billion in 2016 to $14.7 billion in 2017. It is the sixth straight year for an increase.

McDowell said his office received more than 100 calls and in-person inquiries from residents with assessment notice questions — "not terrible for us" — on Wednesday.

"We do expect that our phone lines will get busier," he said.

McDowell said the office's phone system does not have the capacity to remain on hold if all lines are busy, so residents can e-mail their questions or concerns to: kcassr@kcgov.us

"We'll get back to you as soon as we can," he said.

Houser said some residents, including those new to the area, have questions because states vary on how property values are determined.

As of Thursday morning, Assessor's Office staff had written up 20 reviews for appraisers to check on properties, in case mistakes had been made in determining property values.

"We consider this the open-ended discovery process for us," McDowell said, adding that the deadline to appeal values is June 25. "We estimated the values based on the facts that were available to us on Jan. 1. We don't ever want to make the presumption that we know everything."

The assessment notices are the first of three steps in the property tax cycle. The economy, comparable home sales, size, curb appeal, design style, age, structural construction materials and updates and locations are factors that determine property values.

Houser said the biggest factor in determining whether residents will see a tax increase is when taxing district boards decide on their budgets after public hearings this summer. Those entities are listed at the bottom of the assessment notices.

Taxing districts are allowed to increase their budgets up to 3 percent.

"It's at those hearings where you should get involved if you want to limit the amount of taxes you pay," Houser said.

Tax bills, a compilation of the decisions from the taxing districts and property value, arrive in November and are due in December.

Houser said that when the Legislature two years ago capped the homeowners' exemption at $100,000, that hurt residents of counties such as Kootenai that have high property values.

"If more in exemptions would have been allowed, that could have reduced people's taxes," he said. "If property owners believe this is not fair and doing an injustice, they need to talk to their legislators."

Houser said the Assessor's Office can show residents sales data that's also available on real estate sites.

In terms of determining whether their property value is good or bad, Houser encourages residents to ask themselves a question when they receive their notice.

"Would I sell my property for what it’s assessed at?'" he said. "If the answer is, 'No, I would sell it for more,' then I think we are OK with the assessed value. If the answer is, 'No, it's overvalued and I would sell it for less,' then come talk to us."