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Nemaha County Board of Equalization completes 2015 docket: exemptions, corrections and dozens of valuation protests
Summary
Across 2015 the Nemaha County Board of Equalization elected its officers, approved multiple motor-vehicle and property tax exemptions, adopted county tax rates and handled an extensive protest docket that led to several lowered valuations and numerous clerical tax-list corrections.
The Nemaha County Board of Equalization met repeatedly throughout 2015 to manage tax-exemption requests, hear taxpayer valuation protests and approve clerical corrections, concluding the year after approving multiple adjustments and adopting county tax rates.
At the board's organizational session on Jan. 14, County Clerk Joyce Oakley called the meeting to order and the board elected Commissioner Marvin Bohling as chairman and Commissioner Bob Hutton as vice chairman for 2015. That same meeting opened a public hearing on an application from Auburn Affordable Housing for a real-and-personal-property tax exemption; the board tabled the application and asked the assessor to obtain the organization's bylaws showing charitable status before taking further action.
On Jan. 28 the board approved a slate of motor-vehicle tax exemptions presented by County Treasurer Pat Holtzman, including exemptions for Auburn Christian Church (2005 Ford bus), Nemaha County Good Samaritan (multiple vehicles), Good Samaritan Society Home Care of SE NE, St. Clara Catholic Church, St. James Lutheran Church, Peru State College Foundation (one abstention), LL Coryell & Son Park Foundation, Catholic Social Services and Hearts United for Animals. The Auburn Affordable Housing exemption was re-opened for review; Interim Assessor Mallory Lempka said she had forwarded the group's bylaws to the state Department of Revenue attorney for an opinion, and the board took no further action that day.
Throughout spring and summer the board set protest-hearing dates, reviewed Findings and Orders from the Nebraska Tax Equalization & Review Commission (TERC) and accepted the assessor's 2015-2017 Plan of Assessment (presented Aug. 12 as required by Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1311.02). Assessor Mallory Lempka also reported completing continuing education coursework required for her certification.
The BOE spent substantial time in July and mid-month sessions hearing protests from dozens of property owners and businesses. After testimony and evidence, the board voted unanimously in many cases either to accept the assessor's valuation or to lower valuations to the assessor's revised recommendations where inspection evidence or property condition supported a reduction. The minutes specifically record unanimous reductions to assessor recommendations for parcels associated with Peter Bunting; Wayne Geyer; Delbert Jeanneret; William Hutton; Bruce Williamson; and James Rasmussen, among others. The board also noted numerous protests where it found no statutory basis to change values and accepted the assessor's testimony.
The board approved several tax-list corrections through the year that adjusted taxes because of clerical errors or changes in homestead eligibility: an added tax of $631.84 for Dorothy M. Gerdes after a state correction reduced homestead percentage; a $2,325.24 deduction for Auburn Family Health Center PC after correcting a double-taxation error; a $955.62 correction for Keith Volkmer (clerical error on a personal-property price); a $452.95 added tax for Kayberdena Willard after a homestead change; and year-end corrections moving a building to the correct parcel that resulted in a $4,690.58 deduction on one parcel and a $4,572.36 addition on another for the Andrew family. On Dec. 30 the board approved tax-list correction 1512-10 for Louis Stukenholtz, a credit of $809.96 following a parcel split to the NRD.
On July 1 the board approved an exemption for the Brownville Historical Society (Exemption Application 422). On Oct. 7 the BOE adopted Resolution 2015-32 setting 2015 tax rates for political subdivisions (unanimous roll-call vote).
Procedurally the BOE recorded authorization for the assessor to send board notices to numerous parcels when proposed valuations changed and logged multiple appeals that were forwarded to the Nebraska Tax Equalization & Review Commission during the year (including cases for Mark Caspers, the Anthony family, Jane Andrew and C&D Family Farms LLC).
The board certified its minutes through the year via County Clerk Joyce Oakley and adjourned after each session. The minutes show the BOE carried out routine statutory responsibilities: hearing exemptions and protests, correcting clerical errors, approving exemptions when criteria were met, forwarding appeals to TERC and adopting assessment-plan and tax-rate documents required by state law.
Next procedural steps recorded in the minutes include follow-up on the Auburn Affordable Housing exemption (pending submission of bylaws and state review) and ongoing resolution of outstanding protests and appeals to TERC.
