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Appraiser reports large informal‑appeal caseload; commissioners press for clearer postmark rules and data
Summary
County Appraiser Diana Aspedon told the commission April 15 that the office is handling thousands of informal appeals and that a majority remain pending; commissioners asked for clarified figures, questioned postmark and mail deadlines, and sought better public communications about appeal options.
Diana Aspedon, Sedgwick County appraiser, offered an update April 15 on the office’s informal appeal workload and said staff would provide corrected figures after commissioners flagged inconsistencies between the dashboard display and podium figures.
Aspedon said the office is processing a large volume of informal appeals and that many remain pending. She reported that 1,755 appeals had been closed with decisions, and characterized roughly 43 percent of closed appeals as having an adjustment (as presented from the podium). She also said that of closed cases a portion had "no change" and that a small share were canceled or marked as no‑shows; the appraiser’s presentation included counts described as 912 (listed online as 52% no‑change in the dashboard) and other percentages that staff said they would reconcile.
Commissioners pressed for clarity about the county’s reliance on postmarks to validate timely appeal filings after several residents reported postmarks dated after the statutory deadline. Aspedon explained that recent postal operational changes can delay postmarking and said her office will accept faxes, hand delivery or emailed proof in some cases while she looks into specific incidents.
Commissioner Howe also raised an apparent discrepancy he had found in the dashboard: he said the chart suggested many more value changes than the appraiser had reported from the podium. "The numbers on this chart seem like there's a lot more changes happening than what's been said here from the podium," he said, and asked staff to correct and reconcile the public dashboard.
Aspedon described the sales validation process used for recorded sales: validation questionnaires submitted to the register of deeds are reviewed for arms‑length indicators; some sales receive field inspection and staff may attempt to contact buyer or seller when questions arise. She said the appraiser’s office will provide corrected statistics and further documentation to the commission.
Next steps: Appraiser’s staff agreed to reconcile dashboard and reported totals, provide clearer public guidance about mail and delivery options for timely submissions, and return with corrected figures.
