Assessor’s Office Finds $3.4 Million in Unreported Valuations

By Gordon HopkinsJefferson County Commissioners expressed surprise at the discovery of approximately $3.4 million in unreported valuation in the county.County Assessor Mary Banahan and Kylie Rohr, also with the assessor's office, gave a report to commissioners at a meeting on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.“Part of what we did this year is, Kylie went through change finder for pictometry,” said Banahan. “And found unreported values totaling $3,470,000.” The county uses a company called Eagleview Technologies to provide aerial imagery of the county's land. Rohr explained, “They showed buildings that were either new construction, changed buildings, or demoed. And they put it together on a program. And then I reviewed all those structures.”“And then so I went through everything in the county,” said Rohr. “Images over the last 10 years.”“So it's almost $3.5 million in added value, unrecorded, those are uncommitted buildings, and that's rural and in towns. Primarily rural, but there was some in towns, too.” said Rohr. “I measured the buildings. I sent letters to individuals asking for information about the buildings. Whether or not I got responses, we went ahead and added those values to the tax rolls.” While the valuation has been added to the tax rolls, there is still the question of those landowners who did not obtain permits for new construction. It is unclear what penalties they may face.Rohr said the assessor's office forwarded information to John McKee, the county's planning and zoning administrator, “So he can see who added buildings who did not, from my knowledge, did not obtain a permit for, so he could follow up on his end.”Commissioner Gale Pohlmann said, “I'm really disappointed in our contractors. They should know better.”Banahan added, “So should the landowners.”Commissioner Mark Schoenrock asked, “Do you think there's anything else out there still?” “I feel like it did a pretty good job,” Rohr answered. “We did have better imagery this year, compared to the last flights, even two years ago. The clarity of the imagery in the room was a lot better.”

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