Fairbanks North Star Borough Board of Equalization elects chair, hears state assessor training on SB 179 and appeals rules

Cheryl Markwood was elected chair of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Board of Equalization, and Mr. Shuster was chosen deputy chair by unanimous consent at the board’s April 1 meeting in the borough chambers. The board then spent the session on training and procedural briefings ahead of the assessment season.

The session’s primary presentations came from Dan Nelson, the state assessor, and Brent Erickson, the board attorney. State Assessor Dan Nelson reviewed the assessor’s statutory duties, how property values are derived (cost, sales-comparison and income approaches), and new provisions from 2024 legislation identified in the meeting as SB 179. Nelson said the state assessor compiles the annual full-value determination and the Alaska Taxable report, provides training and oversight to local assessors, and has authority to issue a “letter of major error” when jurisdictions have significant assessment mistakes.

Nelson summarized key points of SB 179 described in the training: the state assessor must adopt assessment standards that are not inconsistent with guidance from the International Association of Assessing…