Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Taxation And Assessments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners approve Manhattan Marketplace tax-roll corrections and discuss seeking state action on delayed-appraisal interest
Summary
The county approved tax-roll corrections for several Manhattan Marketplace properties and commissioners asked staff to pursue numbers and possible legislative changes after appraisers submitted fee appraisals years after appeals, creating significant interest liabilities.
Riley County commissioners voted July 24 to approve tax-roll corrections connected to multiple appeals identified as Manhattan Marketplace properties and discussed pursuing state-level changes to how interest is handled when appraisal evidence appears years after an appeal is filed.
The board heard a multi-part explanation from county appraisal staff that several fee appraisals that were submitted in 2024 bore effective dates back to 2020. Appraisers and counsel described a pattern in which appeals are continued repeatedly; when new evidence appears years after the original appeal date, counties must pay interest on refunded taxes for the intervening years.
Jacob Hansen, Riley County counselor, told commissioners the county could compile specific interest figures for recent appeals and said staff would work with appraiser staff (Shiloh was named in the discussion) to quantify interest paid on cases tied to 2020–2022 appraisal evidence. He said the example involving Manhattan Marketplace — where fee appraisals dated to 2020 were submitted four years later — would be useful to present to the legislature.
“If you’re gonna wait that long, then it shouldn’t be the jurisdictions responsible to pay interest because you just got the evidence for your appeal 4 years later,” Hansen said during the administrative discussion, asking staff to provide a concrete example with numbers and continuity-of-continuance information to support a legislative proposal.
Commissioners said a legislative approach could emphasize protecting local taxpayers and taxing jurisdictions — including schools and smaller taxing authorities — because they ultimately cover refunds and interest when reductions are ordered. Hansen agreed to add the issue to the county’s legislative topics list and to research whether other jurisdictions had pursued similar changes or draft legislation. Staff also said they would pull the interest totals for the specific appeals the board just approved so the county can present figures and sample language when it approaches state lawmakers.
Ending: The board approved the tax-roll corrections and directed staff to compile the interest figures and continuance histories for recent appeals as preparatory work for possible legislative outreach.
