Elkhart County appeals board reads multiple no-shows as no-change, approves select reductions

The Elkhart County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals convened Feb. 24, 2026 in Goshen and processed multiple taxpayer appeals for the 2025 assessment year. Several petitioners failed to appear and the board read those cases as "no show, no change." County staff testified they could not substantiate reductions in the absence of petitioner-provided income or supporting data for income-producing properties.

Ty and other county representatives told the board they had requested but not received income documentation for some income-producing parcels (for example, HNC LLC and other hotel properties), and said they could not derive an income-approach valuation without the data. "We requested numerous times copy of the income so we could derive the income approach. It was not provided," a county representative said.

The board accepted one market-analysis reduction that staff recommended: Willis was reduced to $310,600 from $319,900 based on the county’s market analysis, and the board approved an assessed-value reduction for Galbraith parcels (multiple-year adjustments were recorded). The board also rejected a request to reschedule appeals by Matrix Properties and read several other petitioners as "no show, no change." Votes on routine dispositions were recorded by voice and accepted without roll-call tallies in the public record.

Board members emphasized their role in weighing evidence submitted by both sides and repeatedly asked county staff to provide clarifying calculations where available; in several cases, the board directed staff to note where additional data would alter an outcome. The session closed after the board completed its list of scheduled appeals and administrative dispositions.