Uproar Over Property Valuations

By Gordon HopkinsProperty valuations was the topic at one of Governor Jim Pillen’s series of town halls around the state to discuss property taxes.Last week, Nebraskans began receiving property valuations in the mail. According to the governor, property valuations went up an average of 10 percent around the state, although many individuals are seeing increases substantially higher than that. At a town hall on Friday, June 7, held at Midland University in Fremont, Governor Pillen put the blame on spending.“The first step is stop spending,” said the governor. “We have to stop spending at the state level, cap our levels at the school level, and cap at city and county government.”The governor has made property tax relief the priority issue of his administration and has been pushing for a cut of 40 percent. A tax cut failed to pass in the legislature and Pillen has made his intention to call a session this year to address the matter well known.“The bottom line is when we get through the special session is that it’s not going to matter what your valuation is,” said Pillen. “We all want the value of our property go up. It’s not a valuation problem. It’s a spending problem.” However, in Jefferson County, some property owners are complaining that increases evaluations are well over 40 percent, some having more than doubled.How Valuations Are Set Due to the public outcry, commissioners want to make sure people understand the basis for the increase is not due to any county decision and not due to how much the county spends.According to Jefferson County Assessor Mary Banahan, property valuations are set in accordance with state statutes and based on market value. That was the number one point Jefferson County Commissioners wanted to emphasize at a meeting Tuesday morning, June 4, 2024. Banahan explained the process, “Generally, valuations are set every year, based on a state mandated sales period in towns and villages.” The sales period is two years for residential and commercial property and three years for agricultural property. The sales period ended September 30, 2023.Commission Chair Gale Pohlmann said, “Basically, governed by state statute, correct?” Banahan confirmed this was so, “State statute says this what we have to do we have to be within a certain percentage of what market value is, or what we determine market value to be.”Banahan also explained that not following the market price is not an option, “All of our values are sent to the Department of Revenue. They review them, then they make a report to the Tax Equalization Review Commission (TERC), who then reviews their work and our work to make sure that we’re within statutory compliance. If we’re not, then the state will issue an order, telling us what we have to do.”Commissioner Mark Schoenrock observed, “So, it’s based on market value market value. The market value of properties here in the county have increased, I would say, rather substantially.Banahan said, “Yes, they have.” As to why market value has increased so significantly, Banahan’s explanation was succinct, “Somebody’s selling it for that price. Somebody’s buying it for that price.”Residential and commercial real property is valued at 100 percent of its actual value. Agricultural land is valued at 72 percent of its actual value. One individual who owns a half lot showed his valuation postcard to FJN. The total value of his property increased from $13,040 to $20,415. But that only tells part of the story. The building on the land increased from $12,635 to $15,356. The value of the lot, however, jumped from $405 to $5,059, which is an increase of more than 12 times the previous value.According to the Assessor’s Office, the county had not done a “formal lot study” for towns and villages since the 1990’s. For those people who have questions about how their valuations were determined, Banahan said, “I would encourage everybody to come into the (assessor’s) office and we’ll be more than happy to explain how we arrived at the valuation of property.”Banahan also recommends people read the information guides prepared by the Nebraska Department of Revenue at Revenue.nebraska.gov, under the tab, “Property Assessments.”

Wymore Police Chief Resigns

Maxiene Linder

Related Articles

Fairbury Remains Under Water Warning

Secretary of StateEncourages Nebraskans to Register to Vote

Governor Offers Statement on Status of Special Session for Winner Take All

Gage County Historical Society to Tour Stained-Glass Windows