Mendocino assessment board sets 5200 Blue Lake Road value at $230,000 after appeal hearing

The Mendocino County Assessment Appeals Board on April 20, 2025 set the fair market value of 5200 Blue Lake Road in Brooktrails at $230,000 after a contested assessment appeal filed by property owner Mark Blumenfeld.

The board announced its decision after reviewing appraisal evidence and testimony from both the assessor’s office and the appellant, then taking the matter under submission in closed session. The board said it relied on comparable sales and made an adjustment for a large garage on one comparable, arriving at the $230,000 valuation.

The decision matters because it determines the property’s assessed value for property tax purposes. The parties provided competing evidence about the property’s condition and appropriate comparables for a September 8, 2022 valuation date.

Bill Chapman, a Real Property Appraiser III with Mendocino County, testified for the assessor’s office that the assessor’s analysis originally produced a market value estimate of $310,000 using “good condition” comparables but that the office lowered its assessment after reviewing limited documentation submitted by the owner. Chapman told the board the assessor identified arm’s-length sales of “average condition” homes in the Brooktrails market supporting a fair market value of $255,000 as of Sept. 8, 2022, and that the assessor later offered $230,000 as its lowest settlement position. Chapman also described the assessor’s exterior inspection (an interior inspection had not been permitted) and noted the county found no building permits for repair work the owner later said had been performed.

Appellant Mark Blumenfeld presented an independent fee appraisal by licensed appraiser Tim Stransky and argued the independent appraisal should carry substantial weight. Blumenfeld asked the board to accept his appraiser’s valuation or, alternatively, said he had offered $217,000 as a compromise. At the hearing Blumenfeld said he purchased the property on Sept. 8, 2022 for $110,000 and asserted his appraisal conformed with the revenue and taxation rules cited in his materials.

The appellant’s appraiser, Tim Stransky, testified he treated the subject and his chosen comparables as “fixer” properties and that market conditions and gradations among fixers affected comparable selection. The assessor’s witnesses questioned some of the fee appraisal’s comparables, including their sale dates and condition, and presented county comparables they said better reflected the Brooktrails market.

After closing the public portions of the hearing and conferring in closed session, the board announced it “agrees that the comparable sales valuation approach is the appropriate valuation method” and that it relied in particular on the property at 285 Sherwood Road (assessor comp number 2 and also applicant comp number 3) and on an assessor comparable that sold the day after the subject sale. The board said the comparable that sold the day after the subject included a large two-car garage and that the board attributed a roughly $26,000 downward adjustment for that feature in reaching the $230,000 figure. The board said it will prepare formal findings of fact consistent with that valuation and directed the clerk to notify the applicant in writing by U.S. mail.

Votes at a glance - Withdrawals: The board accepted withdrawals of protest application numbers 20240006, 240007, 240008, 240009, 240010, 240011, 240012 and 240013. Motion carried unanimously. (Clerk read withdrawals; vote recorded as unanimous.) - Stipulation: Protest application 240014 (Navarro General Store) — the board accepted the stipulation/withdrawal. Motion carried unanimously. - Extension of time requests: The board approved extension-of-time requests (citing RTC 1604(c) on the agenda) for protest application numbers 230024, 240001, 240002, 240003 and 240004. Motion carried unanimously. - Continuances/postponements: The board approved continuances for protest application numbers 240001, 240002, 240003 and 240004. Motion carried unanimously. - Assessment appeal (protest application 240005, Blumenfeld): After hearing testimony and reviewing submitted comparables and appraisals, the board concluded a fair market value of $230,000 for 5200 Blue Lake Road and will prepare written findings. The board announced the valuation at the meeting; the clerk will notify the applicant by mail.

Board members discussed evidence at length in public testimony and directed staff to prepare written findings. County counsel and both appraisers participated in questioning about comparable selection, condition adjustments and the relevance of building permits and subsequent repairs to the Sept. 8, 2022 valuation date.

Quotes from the hearing included the assessor’s request that the board “respectfully request[s] that the value be set at $255,000” (Bill Chapman) and Mark Blumenfeld’s statement: “I respectfully request that the Board accepts an appraisal value of 179,000” (appellant’s request noted in his statement; Blumenfeld also said he proposed $217,000 as a compromise). The board summarized its conclusion in open session: “The Assessment Appeals Board agrees that the comparable sales valuation approach is the appropriate valuation method” and announced the resulting $230,000 valuation.

The board concluded the matters and scheduled preparation of written findings. The clerk confirmed the next regularly scheduled meeting date on the record as July 14, 2025.