Oklahoma County Board of Equalization Hears Valuation Appeals for Seven Rental Homes in Choctaw Area

The Oklahoma County Board of Equalization on March 24 heard seven valuation appeals for single-family rental properties in the Choctaw/Northeast 36 area after an owner asked the board to set market value based on a "1% rent" rule rather than the assessor's comparable-sales valuations.

Brett Town, member of the Board of Equalization, opened the special meeting and said the board would hear each appeal in turn and accept only evidence previously provided to the assessor unless the assessor agreed to consider new material. The owner argued that fair market value for the rental properties should be derived from monthly rent using a one-percent rule (monthly rent equals 1% of value). "I think the per rental market value would be 1%," the owner said. "If you got a thousand dollars a month, then the spare rental market value would be a hundred thousand." The owner repeated that approach across the seven appealed addresses and said market rents, not sales, better reflect value for his holdings.

Seth, representing the assessor's office, countered that the 1% rule is a profitability heuristic and "does not determine market value." He told the board…