COLUMBUS -- A total of 246 property valuation protests had been received by the Platte County Clerk’s office by the end business Tuesday.
Residents protesting their 2008 property valuation will begin receiving notices containing the date and time of their hearing before the Platte County Board of Equalization in the next few days.
The Platte County Supervisors have set the dates for protest hearings to begin at 1 p.m. July 15 and end at 4:30 p.m. July 22.
On July 16-18 and July 21, the protest hearings will begin at 9 a.m. and will continue as long as needed. The last day of hearings, July 22, will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. or as as soon as all the hearings have been held.
“This number of protests is about average for years when we make significant changes like we have this year,” said Platte County Assessor Vanora Mulligan. “Last year, we had 77 valuation protests, which is the average low number we might see.”
Mulligan has served in the assessor’s office since 1976 and was elected Platte County Assessor in 1999.
The total number of protests filed in 2006 was 179, and 161 were filed in 2005.
Mulligan said a complete review of the county began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. She said a review typically takes about four years and includes a review of a portion of Columbus, a few subdivisions, four or five townships and a couple of the smaller towns or villages in the county.
“The number of protests was down last year, probably because we were doing pick-up work and there were very few changes,” Mulligan said. “This year we’ve begun a new review which comes with more changes usually. From this time on the legislature is requiring a review every six years.
Mulligan said there were a total of 17,739 parcels in Platte County in 2008. She said that number is fluid from year to year because properties can be joined or divided as properties change hands.
The supervisors meeting took on the atmosphere of a courtroom when issues regarding isolated property, owned by Max Jenny, were debated by Jenny’s attorneys and the adjacent property owners.
Interim Platte County Attorney Carl Hart reviewed the issue from its beginning. He reminded the supervisors of the statute that was the basis for action they took in declaring an old trail road to a newly designated access road.
Hart reviewed the original appraisal and additional cost to cure items related to fencing and trees of the adjacent properties, which was done by Certified General Appraiser John Wurdeman.
Following Hart’s review, attorneys Ray Baker, representing the Jenny family, and Gene Schumacher, representing the Lawrence Stec family, addressed the board with their arguments for various adjustments to the appraisal.
Schumacher’s argument was the supervisors had no authority to include an order for the Jennys to build the access road in its resolution and Wurdeman’s original appraisal was the correct appraisal to use.
Schumacher’s argument won the day. The board voted to table the matter until the July 15 meeting and directed Hart to review the original resolution.
The property owners contending the issue were encouraged to meet and resolve the issue and return to the board with a written agreement on the value of damages or to be prepared to abide by the board’s final decision.
In other action, the board approved a change order for work being done to the courthouse steps and sidewalks in the amount of $24,153. The change raises the total amount of the project from $39,318.44 to a total of $63,471.44.
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