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Hubbard County staff report drop in property valuation appeals; 19 signed for County Board hearing June 25
Summary
County staff told commissioners that local Board of Appeal and Equalization hearings wrapped in April with fewer appeals overall; 128 appeals were filed this year with 88 meeting changes and 62 class-change corrections. Nineteen appellants are currently signed for the County Board session June 25.
Maria, a county staff member, updated the Hubbard County Board of Commissioners during a work session on the local Board of Appeal and Equalization process and said the county completed its local hearings in a three-week span this year.
The update matters because the appeal process can change assessed values that feed property tax bills and affect county workload. Maria said the county received 128 appeals at the local Board meetings this year; 88 of those resulted in changes. She told commissioners that 62 of the adjusted cases were class changes that had been missed when local assessors submitted their paperwork, and that if those had not been brought forward the number of changed appeals would have been 66.
Maria said completing local board meetings in a concentrated three-week period allowed staff to use May for open-book meetings and reduced the overall field and meeting days. "Getting all of those meetings done in a 3 week period was a little bit rough, but at the same time we had a lot of positive comments," she said.
Staff reported the tone at hearings was calmer than in previous years; Maria said several meetings drew no in-person appellants, citing Henrietta Township — a location that often draws two- to three-hour hearings — as an example where no one attended this year.
Looking ahead to the County Board of Appeal and Equalization, staff reported 19 people were signed up to appeal as of the briefing. Maria said that figure is manageable compared with 2023, when the county recorded a larger total of appeals. "19 I think is very doable," she said, adding that some cases have recommended changes from staff and others will be more conversational.
Maria asked commissioners for feedback on the board packet format and whether additional materials would be helpful ahead of the County Board session. Commissioners and staff discussed including comparative tax-capacity charts and neighboring-county comparisons for context.
The County Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting is scheduled for June 25; commissioners did not take a formal vote during the work session but directed staff to finalize the packet and bring any requested comparative data ahead of that meeting.
