Resident cites low assessed-to-sale ratios and neighborhood adjustments; assessor agrees to review

At the Board of Equalization portion of the Douglas County meeting on March 24, resident Alan Seibert presented a multi-item analysis alleging errors in certified assessment corrections, including missing land values, incorrect tax-district assignments, and neighborhood adjustment and depreciation factors that he said produced assessed-to-sale ratios well below the customary 92 percent target.

Seibert cited specific examples (CAC identifiers and market areas), noting one house sold for $289,000 but was assessed at $215,000 after a land value was added, producing an assess-to-sale ratio he calculated as roughly 75 percent; other vacant-lot examples showed ASRs near 49–52 percent in the same subdivisions. "How is the land value determined?" Seibert asked; he urged clarity and better mechanisms for property owners to know whether tax-district assignments and neighborhood adjustments are correct.

Douglas County Assessor Mike Goodwillie responded that many of the items were clerical corrections for tax year 2025 and that when parcels are assigned to incorrect tax districts they must be corrected to ensure tax dollars go to the proper taxing jurisdiction. He acknowledged that when sales outpace the timing of neighborhood reappraisal, assessed-to-sale ratios can become ‘‘out of whack’’ and that reappraisal is the remedy when multiple ratios indicate a problem. Goodwillie invited Seibert to provide contact information and said he would take the specific examples to appraisal staff for further review and a written response.

Commissioners asked staff to capture and circulate the assessor's written response so the board can follow up. The Board then approved the block of equalization resolutions after hearing the exchange.