Two Brooksville landowners contest reassessments, cite nearby mine activity and uniqueness of lots

Two Brooksville landowners disputed 2024 assessments for vacant, mine-adjacent parcels during consecutive hearings before Special Magistrate Colleen Millett on Jan. 9, 2025.

Tom and Ruth Wilbanks (petition 24-022) and Dan and Amy Shramack (petition 24-023) told the magistrate that earlier Value Adjustment Board rulings or their own sales history showed substantially lower fair-market values than the Property Appraiser’s Office reported. The Wilbanks said the VAB previously adjusted their value to $121,908 for 2023, and they questioned a jump in the 2024 just value to $237,620 with an assessed/taxable value of $134,099.

“The property is unique and... it is located very close to the proximity of a mine quarry, which is negatively impacting that value,” Tom Wilbanks said, referring to the prior VAB decision. Wilbanks and the Shramacks showed photographs and described recent activity — new roads, poles and a transformer — on or adjacent to the mine site, and said trucks and equipment make the parcels materially different from other vacant sales in the county.

Daniel Scott of the Property Appraiser’s Office said the office used two sales-report approaches: neighborhood vacant-land sales and “mine-adjacent” acreage sales drawn from across Hernando County. Scott explained that mass-appraisal rules restrict use of certain sales (for example, affiliated-party transfers or extreme outliers) and that the office prioritized 2023 sales for the 2024 roll. He added that some sales in the county were large acreage or agricultural parcels and that comparables for mine-adjacent parcels are limited, requiring a broader search area.

For the Wilbanks petition the appraiser’s packet listed a 2024 just value of $237,620 with assessed/taxable value both at $134,099. The packet used three neighborhood vacant-land sales (weighted mean 79.23 percent) and three mine-adjacent acreage sales (weighted mean 55.84 percent) and reported cost-of-sale breakdowns for each series.

For the Shramacks the appraiser’s packet listed a 2024 just value of $218,000 and assessed/taxable value both at $123,046. The Shramacks added evidence that they have explored forestry management and possible agricultural exemptions and said a forestry service inspection found a distinctive hardwood hammock on the combined acreage, which they hope to preserve for future generations.

Both petitioners asked the magistrate to treat their parcels as unique and not comparable to the broader pool of sales the appraiser used. The property appraiser acknowledged the difficulty of finding close comparables for mine-adjacent vacant land and said the office might treat some sales differently if new evidence is provided; Scott also noted that some prior reductions affect assessed value capping differently across years.

Millett said she would review the submitted materials and make recommendations to the Value Adjustment Board within a few weeks.

No final assessment changes were announced at the hearings.