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Bannock County assessor warns commercial property values likely to rise after state cost-data update
Summary
County assessor staff told commissioners an updated state pricing engine will replace 2020 cost data and could cause substantial increases in commercial appraisals; the assessor's office plans outreach and maintained that appeals and in-person hearings will be available.
Anita Heimas, Bannock County assessor, and Jason, a commercial appraiser in the assessor's office, told commissioners on April 8 that an update to the state's commercial cost-pricing data could raise commercial property valuations in the county.
"What we were using before up through last year was data from 2020," the commercial appraiser said, describing a state-provided update to base per-square-foot building costs and depreciation tables. He said the change "is kind of five years in the making" and that the new costing data will better align the county's cost approach to construction pricing.
He told the board that commercial appraisal is constrained by limited local sales data, so the updated cost base may produce larger adjustments in property classes that rarely trade. "One of the areas that we may see a large increase is commercial properties that we typically don't see any sales data on," he said.
Heimas and the appraiser said the assessor's office uses cost, income and market approaches and will tailor the new base pricing to local market conditions, noting different results for Pocatello, Arimo and Lava. The office told commissioners it will continue outreach to commercial owners and invites property owners to provide financial data to inform appraisals. Heimas said the office plans public relations work and will return in May with additional proposals for residential and commercial values.
Commissioners asked about the defensibility of the updated data and about how the county would handle appeals. The appraiser said state and external reviewers ran tests on the updated pricing system and that staff feel "really good about that" the update is defensible. Heimas said the office will follow the ratio-study parameters used for assessments and noted upcoming legislative changes that will tighten rules for ratio studies.
Ending
The discussion was informational; no formal change to assessment procedures was voted on at the meeting. Assessor staff said they will provide additional outreach and return to the board with more detailed plans in May.
