The Stark County Commission voted Sept. 4 to set the 2023 assessed value for a 47-unit multifamily property in Dickinson at $2.9 million, reducing the tax-year 2023 valuation from the assessor’s earlier $4.21 million figure. The action followed an abatement hearing in which the property owner’s attorney presented a July 2022 appraisal and argued that the property’s market value supported a lower assessment for 2023.

Nathan Stidelberg, attorney for the property owner, told the commission the buyer paid about $1.5 million in 2021 and that a professional appraisal in mid-2022 placed market value near $2.25 million; he asked the commission to confirm the appraisal-based value for the 2023 tax year. City property staff and the county assessor described how valuations are set under the mass-appraisal process and said the city had performed a voluntary reassessment for tax year 2024 that reduced the value to $2.84 million.

Commissioners discussed appraisal comparables, timing and whether sales and appraisals should control assessed values; they also considered mass-appraisal practices and the city’s 2024 voluntary revision. After discussion, a commissioner moved to set the 2023 assessed value at $2.9 million; the motion passed on roll call. The county chair said the change will be reflected in the county’s abatement records and that the matter will proceed through the formal accounting and refund process per state law.

The owner sought abatement only for the 2023 tax year at the hearing; the city’s 2024 valuation of $2.84 million remains in place, and the owner and city agreed to continue working on assessments for subsequent years. The commission’s vote establishes the 2023 taxable valuation for abatement/refund calculations; county staff will calculate the refund and process any payment required by statute.

Next steps: county finance staff will compute the tax adjustment and refund required under state law; the commission recorded the vote as a formal change to the 2023 assessment.