Cass County board of equalization moves appeals to pending status and approves city valuations

The Cass County Board of Commissioners on June 2 convened as the county board of equalization, heard public appeals and actions, and took three formal votes: placing appeals presented at the meeting into pending status for further review; approving the assessed values prepared for the City of Arthur and City of Castleton (both cities had not forwarded completed equalization roles); and approving all other valuations as presented.

Director of Equalization Matt (last name not specified in record) opened the county’s annual equalization meeting with an overview and statistics for the assessing year, saying total taxable value countywide rose about 3.2% to $1,311,386,000 and rural county values rose about 4.8% to $237,500,000. He explained that the board’s June meeting is primarily fact‑finding and that determinations on appeals would be finalized at a follow‑up meeting scheduled in two weeks.

The county heard appeals from property‑tax consultants and property owners. Property Tax Resources representatives presented appeals for multiple Fargo office and industrial properties, citing declining net operating income, above‑market vacancy and lease rollover exposure and asking for income‑approach consideration instead of mass‑appraisal comparables. Representatives for Walmart raised concerns about mass appraisal for very large supercenters and provided a third‑party appraisal estimate near $65 per square foot for one store, asking the assessor to continue dialogue on a compromise valuation.

Multiple individual property owners also spoke. One Fargo condo owner, Dana Woodruff, asked the board to adjust a proposed 27% year‑over‑year increase for her unit and described sales‑data sparsity in small condo buildings that can create large statistical variance. A Horace homeowner, Connor McGovern, appealed a 2025 valuation he called a “vast overestimate” compared with loan underwriter determinations; the assessor’s office said they would follow up and attempt to schedule a property view to provide a recommendation at the next meeting. A townships‑area property owner, Howard Rasmussen, raised concerns about acreage and building classifications on his tax record and asked the county assessor to re‑examine deed and acreage notes.

Matt summarized adjustments submitted by cities before the county meeting and noted two cities (Arthur and Castleton) had not submitted approved local equalization roles; staff proposed approving the county’s assessed values for those cities because their local boards had not finalized roles. The board then took the three motions by roll call: move appeals presented today into pending status; approve the values of City of Arthur and City of Castleton as assessed; and approve all other valuations as presented. Each motion passed on recorded roll calls.

Matt reminded the public that any parcel not appealed at the local level before reaching the county cannot be appealed to the state; he said the county would provide a written recommendation and formal decisions at the follow‑up meeting.

The process: appeals presented were placed in pending status for deeper review; county staff will coordinate with city and township assessors and with property owners and consultants to prepare final recommendations for the commissioners at the next scheduled equalization meeting, after which valuations will be formally approved or adjusted.