Elkhart County board upholds 2024 assessment for Wilkie property after discussion of neighborhood factor and potential farm use

Steven Wilkie contested the 2024 assessment of $441,600 on his 11.09‑acre parcel in Cleveland Township at an Elkhart County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals hearing on Sept. 23, 2025. After hearing testimony from Wilkie and county assessor staff, the three-member board voted to leave the assessment unchanged.

Wilkie told the board he could not reconcile repeated year-over-year increases with inflation and with the fact that he has not made improvements to the property. "I can't understand how it is that I'm being compared to houses around me for what they sell for," Wilkie said, arguing that nearby higher sale prices were inflating his tax value. He also said parts of his land are zoned agricultural A1 and that he intends to use acreage for farming, which he said should affect valuation.

The county's presentation, delivered by Tyler Miller of the assessor's office, described the property and the basis for the assessment. Miller said the parcel includes a roughly 2,200‑square‑foot single‑story ranch, a 950‑square‑foot garage, an unfinished basement and a 48-by-60 accessory building treated as a type‑3 barn. The assessor's exhibits included the 2024 property record card, a comparison of sales used in a reconciliation, and permit and sketch information.

Miller explained that the county uses assessment neighborhoods and annual sales-ratio studies to derive a neighborhood trending factor; for the subject property the board was told the factor is 1.92. "Sales ratio studies are required by law," Miller said, adding that the factor tracks assessment to market transactions inside an assessment neighborhood and can change year to year. He also described an existing 22% depreciation adjustment and a separate 13% abnormal obsolescence entry on the property card that further reduce assessed value.

The assessor also addressed Wilkie's question about agricultural classification. Miller said current parcel coding lists the recorded 11 acres as residential use because no active farming operation had been reported; if the owner begins bona fide agricultural use, a change in use would be reflected on the next assessment date and agricultural land is assessed under separate Indiana rules (by statute and soil influences), typically producing a lower land value than market-rate residential land.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the neighborhood factor, depreciation and the process for changing use. Chair Mike Settles said the board's questions were intended to help draw out testimony useful to the petitioner's claim. After rebuttal and clarifications, a motion was made and seconded to make no change to the assessment. The motion carried by voice vote.

Votes at a glance

- Parcel (appeal packet): petitioner Steven Wilkie; appealed assessment: $441,600 (2024). Motion: no change. Outcome: approved (board voice vote).