Oklahoma County Board of Equalization hears appeals, sets values for several apartment complexes

The Oklahoma County Board of Equalization met in a special session May 19 to hear property-value appeals from apartment owners and their representatives and to set several fair-market values by motion.

Chair Eleanor Thompson called the meeting to order and led a series of telephone hearings in which taxpayers and assessor staff presented income-based and sales-comparison analyses for multiple apartment complexes. The board first approved minutes for prior meetings by voice vote.

In a contested appeal of the Chisholm Creek property (BOE 140), taxpayer representative Travis presented a multi-year income workup and argued that the assessor’s secondary income and cap-rate assumptions inflated the county’s valuation. The assessor’s representative defended the office’s market-parameter adjustments and said the office’s income-and-sales mix produced a county value of about $29.24 million. After debate on vacancy assumptions, cap rates and comparable sales, the board voted to set the Chisholm Creek fair-market value at $29,240,000.

In other cases, a receiver for the lender, John Bole of Freedman Real Estate, told the board that his Fairfax Best Living account was experiencing high vacancy and required substantial capital repairs — including a roughly $2.6 million immediate program and further unit-level rehabilitation — and argued a lower fair-market value. The assessor’s staff countered that market vacancy and expense parameters supported a materially higher valuation. The board did not set that account’s final figure during the session and said decisions for some appeals would be issued the next day by mail.

The board also considered the Brick Town Apartments (BOE 141), where the assessor adjusted expenses and recommended a county value of about $29.82 million; the taxpayer accepted that adjustment and the board approved the assessor’s figure by voice vote. For Crossroads (BOE 148) the owner’s representative said the owner is pursuing nonprofit/exempt status and requested the appeal be recorded; parties agreed to set that account at $4,478,800 and the board approved by voice vote.

Several other hearings (including BOE 142 and DOE 146/147) included detailed exchanges over whether to emphasize recent sales or the property’s income performance, with the assessor generally favoring market-parameter adjustments and taxpayers emphasizing current income, deferred maintenance and high vacancy. The board indicated it would issue written decisions for items not finalized during the session.

The meeting adjourned after members confirmed which accounts would be decided the next day and discussed scheduling for the coming week. The board said it will notify appellants of formal decisions by mail.