Petitioner disputes Hernando County appraisal for new Weeki Wachee home, magistrate holds record for further review

Brandon Wells asked a Hernando County special magistrate on Oct. 17 to reduce the county's just value for his newly built single-family home at 16075 Dusty Sparrow Road in Weeki Wachee, saying the assessor overstated the property's market value. The hearing record shows the magistrate reviewed sales-comparison analysis and other evidence and said he would re-run the data before issuing a recommendation.

The petitioner, Brandon Wells, testified the county's just value of $334,527 and assessed/taxable figures (assessed: $307,411; taxable: $256,689) are incorrect. He told the magistrate, "I believe it's inaccurate because we disagree with the prior cap of the $334,527," and disputed the county's land and feature valuations, including what he described as the builder's permit value for improvements.

The property appraiser's representative (Doug Mack) explained the office used a sales-comparison approach and described the…