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 workloads: Ian (hired Oct. 2024) reviewed 404 properties in three months; another new hire reviewed hundreds of sales or permits; Rainey entered 1,619 deed transactions and handled homestead and military exemption sign-ups; other appraisers reviewed several hundred properties each for the reappraisal. Plage said the office plans to finish migration to city IT and replace outdated equipment.

On exemptions and appeals, Plage reported the assessor added roughly $10 million in value previously exempted after a compliance review of partial exemptions. She described the role of the Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAB) and district court appeals and listed pending large commercial appeals (Walmart, Sam's Club, North Grand Mall) that could require significant reductions if claimants prevail. Plage said the office engages outside counsel and appraisers to defend large commercial assessments.

On budget, Plage proposed a total budget increase of about 2.3% and said payroll increased roughly 3.77% owing to salary adjustments and reallocation of funds. She proposed drawing down the beginning fund balance to lower the levy rate: the proposed levy would drop about 6.76 percent because of a higher beginning fund balance and planned drawdown. The assessor said the ending fund balance would remain adequate for operations through the early months of the fiscal year. The board then voted to receive the proposed budget and to approve publication and public hearing scheduling; the conference board set the public hearing for March 11, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

Plage and board members discussed agricultural productivity valuations (set by the state Department of Revenue on a multi-year rolling average), how large institutional properties (Iowa State University, Board of Regents property) are reflected in exempt-value totals, and whether the assessor's office can value very large campus facilities (stadiums, major arenas) without outside appraisal help. Plage said the office will do smaller public buildings itself but expects outside consultants will be needed for very large specialty properties.

Plage characterized staff training and consolidations as investments in future efficiency and said the office aims to move to a six-year rotation of systematic property reviews after completing the current reappraisal. The board approved the assessor's FY25-26 publication and public hearing schedule and reappointed a Board of Review member for a six-year term.

The council and conference board also discussed whether to set a formal policy defining a minimum ending fund balance for the assessor; members asked staff to prepare a policy discussion for a future meeting.

Ending: Plage thanked the board and staff; the council and conference board set the assessor's budget public hearing for March 11 and directed staff to return with a recommended ending-fund-balance policy at a future meeting.