Douglas County appraiser warns of backlog, explains appeals process and potential large losses from big‑box cases

Douglas County Appraiser Brad Eldridge gave commissioners a detailed briefing on the property‑tax appeals process and the county’s recent experience defending values.

Eldridge explained the local hierarchy: informal appeals after value notices (March), payment‑under‑protest options tied to tax payments (December/May), a supplemental appraisal option for taxpayers who order private appraisals, then escalation to the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA). He described staff practice of phone hearings and electronic evidence exchange adopted after the pandemic.

On appeal volumes, Eldridge said the county typically sees about 800 parcels appealed in a year, roughly 1–3% of its 42,000 parcels, and that Douglas County’s defense success rate in recent years has been above 80%. He warned, however, that large retailers appeal regularly and can generate long, resource‑intensive dockets at BOTA and in district court. "That accounts for between all taxing units, $809,100,000 dollars of potential tax loss if they get exactly what they're asking for," Eldridge said about the county’s current pending cases.

Commissioners asked about costs to taxpayers who obtain private appraisals (Eldridge estimated about $500 for residential and $2,000–$5,000+ for commercial) and about how refunds and interest are handled when appeals are resolved against the county. Staff said the treasurer’s office handles complex distribution calculations and that staff would follow up with more detail on how interest and refunds are accounted for across taxing entities.

Eldridge emphasized the staffing and legal resources appeals require and noted that many jurisdictions short on staff choose to stipulate and settle large cases, while Douglas County has recently prevailed in district court on multi‑year commercial appeals.

The commission received the briefing as an informational item and did not take formal action.