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County reclassifies Hy-Vee–adjacent parking lot as taxable after correcting exempt status
Summary
A parcel used as a parking lot by Olive Garden had been treated as exempt in county records; the Assessor's Office corrected the error for tax year 2025 and placed a taxable valuation on the lot, saying Hy‑Vee owns the parcel and Olive Garden had been paying taxes under a private agreement.
Clay County assessment staff told an appeals hearing they corrected a parcel adjacent to the Hy‑Vee in Liberty that had been marked exempt in county records and associated with the Olive Garden parcel. The county said the piece of land is a 2.2‑acre support parking parcel and should be taxed to Hy‑Vee for 2025, with a resulting assessed value of $673,700.
Why it matters: Reclassifying a previously exempt parcel increases the county’s tax roll for the property and changes who receives the tax bill. The county said Olive Garden previously paid the tax under a private arrangement, but the county must record the parcel owner and tax the parcel unless it meets an exemption category.
Grant Knopf, identified in the transcript as a member of the Clay County Assessor’s Office, summarized the county’s position: the parcel had been shown as exempt in 2024; for 2025 the assessor’s office corrected the record, assigned a value based on land comparables and cost approach, and removed the exemption. Knopf said the county does not classify the parcel as a pad site for development because it is a support parcel used primarily for parking; instead, the assessor’s office applied a land value of $6.45 per square foot and added an asphalt improvement valued at about $50,000.
County staff explained that any private agreement between Olive Garden and Hy‑Vee about who pays taxes does not change the fact that the parcel belongs to Hy‑Vee and must be valued for tax purposes. Knopf said the county will send the tax bill to Hy‑Vee, which may have arrangements to pass the charge through to Olive Garden.
Decision and next steps: County staff requested no change to the corrected 2025 valuation on the record and asked that any evidence disputing ownership or use be submitted for rebuttal. The transcript does not show a formal board vote on the matter at the hearing.
Context and limits: This article reports the county’s description of the ownership, prior exemption classification and the new 2025 taxable valuation. It does not adjudicate the legal standing of any private agreement between Olive Garden and Hy‑Vee or the final tax payment arrangements.
