Gage County Board of Equalization members set a three-minute limit for public comment per property owner at a Wednesday meeting and recessed until 1 p.m. to hear property valuation protests.

The limit was announced by the board chair as the panel prepared to hear dozens of property owners: "3 minutes per property owner then, not per parcel," the chair said. The board said additional time for follow-up questions from members would be decided by the chair.

The limits matter because staff reported a large volume of protests. Jen, an assessor's office staff member, told the board the office had "500 some protests — 530 ish" filed this cycle and said staff were working through them. Jen added that while many protests have been resolved with referees, "it could be 30 or 40%" that remain unresolved and will require hearings before the board.

Before recessing, the board handled routine procedural votes. A motion to approve the meeting agenda was moved by Dorn Jurgens and seconded by Adams; the motion passed with six in favor and Bridal recorded as abstaining. A subsequent motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting was moved by Dorn Jurgens and seconded by Claybaugh and approved by the board.

Board members and staff discussed logistics for the afternoon session: the chair noted that swearing in referees would take time and said that the swearing-in would not count against the individual speaker's three-minute allotment. The chair also said the board would hear the same owner's comments once rather than allowing multiple three-minute slots per parcel for owners with multiple parcels.

The board formally recessed the equalization session until 1 p.m. to hear property evaluation protests. No changes to valuation policy were adopted at the meeting; the session set procedure and scheduling for afternoon hearings.

The meeting record indicates the board discussed but did not finalize an overall tally of unresolved protests; staff characterized the outstanding number as approximate. The board's procedures and the number of protests will determine how many owners present testimony before the board reconvenes at 1 p.m.