Ames City assessor details reappraisal, condo consolidations and staffing in annual report; proposes lower levy

Sherry Plage, Ames City Assessor, presented the office's annual report and proposed FY2025-26 budget during the AIMS conference board meeting on Feb. 25, saying the office is finishing a revaluation cycle and plans to complete a city-wide reappraisal by the 2027 assessment.

Plage told the board the assessor's primary duties are to classify and value property and manage exemptions; the office does not set tax rates or collect taxes. She said land values are being repriced for the 2025 assessments and notices will go out by the April 1 deadline. Plage highlighted a recent outreach to owners of entire condominium complexes that led to large-scale consolidation: two staff appraisers consolidated 2,607 condo units into 75 parcels for assessment purposes.

Plage said staffing adds include temporary data collectors whose work will end when the reappraisal project is finished. She named several staff by first name as recent hires and described their…