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Gage County Board approves referees and MIPS services for 2025 assessment year; approves two post-TURK tax corrections
Summary
The Gage County Board of Equalization voted unanimously to hire Cardinal Assessment Group LLC for refereeing services, approved a contract with MIPS for assessment services and approved two tax correction slips resulting from TURK cases.
The Gage County Board of Equalization on June 11 approved contracts for refereeing and assessment services for the 2025 assessment year and approved two tax correction slips following judgments in TURK cases.
The board voted 6-0 to approve an agreement with Cardinal Assessment Group LLC for refereeing services. The motion to approve Cardinal was moved by Dorn and seconded by Haxby; the board described the contract as intended to provide a consistent set of referees for informal and formal hearings. Board members said Josh with Cardinal has worked with the assessor's office previously and will serve as a referee this year.
The board also approved an agreement with Multicounty Information and Programming Services (MIPS) for assessment and related services for the 2025 assessment year, again by a 6-0 vote (motion by Haxby, second by Adams). Board members discussed whether an assessment contractor can also serve in a refereeing role when it provided assessment recommendations; a board member explained that, if parties cannot reach agreement through referee procedures, the matter will return to the Board of Equalization for final determination.
"The one that made the assessment or the assessment recommendation would be refereeing between the county and the property owner. Where that separation would be made, if they can't come to an agreement between those two, it will still come back to the Board of Equalization for final determination," a board member said during the discussion.
The board additionally approved two tax correction slips (items 14 and 15) tied to TURK cases; the board stated the two matters involved confessed judgments and that the combined fiscal impact was just under $10,000. The motion to approve the tax correction slips was moved by Adams and seconded by Claybaugh; the vote was 6-0 in favor. Staff noted that assembling documentation for TURK filings required producing multiple hearing books and incurred staff time and expense.
Why it matters: hiring outside referees and confirming assessment contractors are part of the county's process to handle protests and ensure consistent review of contested valuations. The tax correction approvals close two cases that reached the state-level review referenced in the meeting.
The board closed the equalization meeting at 9:07 a.m.
