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Kootenai County to ask Board of Equalization to review a dozen parcels after valuation error left taxes at $0
Summary
County staff told commissioners a tax-assessment data error set 12 parcels to zero value, producing a near-$200,000 loss in gross tax dollars; commissioners asked staff to pursue Board of Equalization review and present options to property owners, including payment plans and waiving penalties.
Kootenai County commissioners on May 27 asked staff to bring a formal Board of Equalization (BOE) process recommendation after the treasurer’s office identified a dozen parcels whose value was set to $0 in the tax system.
Chief Deputy Treasurer Jill Smith told the board the error occurred after a BOE decision was processed but the county’s tax-and-assessment software recorded a zero value instead of the corrected value. "The loss to the county in tax dollars is just under $200,000," Smith said, and the county’s share is roughly 30 percent of that figure.
Smith said one of the affected accounts is a campground that pursued further reduction in district court; that property’s tax for 2024 would be $37,901.56 under corrected valuation. She explained the problem was not caught before bills were generated in December, and two of the affected parcels are owner-occupied while two are billed through mortgage companies. "When the mortgage company pulled the data file in December, there were no taxes due," she said, which could lead to unexpectedly large bills for property owners if the county simply corrected the valuations retroactively.
Commissioners pressed staff for options to avoid sudden, large bills. Commissioner Metari said scheduling the issue for the BOE would allow the county to handle it formally and provide options to taxpayers. County staff proposed several approaches they could present to property owners, including: offering 12-month payment plans, waiving interest and penalties for the period in which the error stood, and handling corrections parcel-by-parcel rather than issuing large lump-sum retroactive bills.
No formal policy change or specific waiver was adopted at the meeting. Instead commissioners directed staff to return with BOE-scheduled options that legal counsel could review and then be presented to affected property owners.
The board did not set a specific hearing date during the meeting; staff said they will prepare a BOE agenda item and proposed remedies for the commissioners to approve before notices are sent to taxpayers.
Ending
County staff will draft BOE agenda materials and legal options for the commissioners, including proposed payment plans and penalty-waiver language, and will notify affected property owners after the board approves the approach.
