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Assessor says state cost-schedule changes drove recent assessment increases; urges appeals by June 15
Summary
Assessor Reva Brumit told the council that state updates to cost schedules and fewer comparable sales explain steep assessment increases and encouraged residents to file appeals by June 15 if they believe their property values are incorrect.
Morgan County Assessor Reva Brumit told the county council June 1 that recent assessment increases stem largely from state-level changes to the Department of Local Government Finance cost schedules and not from changes made locally.
Brumit said the state raised the base square-foot price and other component costs (plumbing, HVAC, exterior features and outbuildings) in successive updates. "They raised it by 32%" and then another "24%," she said of recent square-foot adjustments, and added that the state also increased costs for accessory structures. The assessor warned that changes to outbuilding valuation rules limit the office’s ability to adjust some agricultural buildings and described examples where an outbuilding’s assessed value jumped dramatically after applying the new cost tables.
Brumit urged property owners who believe their assessment does not reflect market value to file an appeal with the assessor’s office before June 15. "If anyone ... believes truly believes that the assessment value that we have placed on you today is not what you could get for it in the market, please before the 15th of June, come in and file an appeal," she said.
The assessor also discussed how the state’s move toward automated valuation models and variations in local sales activity complicate achieving perfect parity with market value. She encouraged residents to contact the assessor’s office for explanations and to provide evidence during the appeals process.
