Oklahoma County Board of Equalization sets two fair-market values by agreement, defers two other appeals

The Oklahoma County Board of Equalization approved two agreed valuations and deferred two other appeals at a special meeting June 17.

After presentations from appellants and the assessor’s office, the board set BOE 181 (a Midwest City nursing center) "by agreement of the parties" at $3,360,000 following a motion and an affirmative vote. The board later set BOE 182 (Windsor Hills Realty) by agreement at $2,575,000. Both motions were made on the record and supported by board members; the chair announced the outcomes in open session.

Appellant representative Josh McCollum, who said he relied on a cost approach for several nursing-facility appeals, told the board the properties had been part of a bulk sale and that allocations from that sale affect individual property valuations. "The information I'm presenting is the same information that I gave," McCollum said, explaining he used Marshall & Swift cost schedules and effective-age assumptions to reach lower values than the assessor’s office.

Assessor-side presenter Tom Shannon emphasized the difficulty of choosing an effective age and depreciation schedule and said that those choices account for much of the disagreement. "The only issue is is what is the effective age?" Shannon said, adding that site improvements, canopies and other ancillary items must be adjusted in the cost approach.

For BOE 180 (War Acres Realty), parties discussed the allocation from the bulk sale, occupancy and effective age, but the appellant asked the board to make a decision and the board deferred that item to the next meeting. For BOE 183 (The Lodge of Brookline Realty), the board likewise asked for additional review and scheduled a decision for the next day; the chair said mailed decisions would follow and might be delayed until Monday because of a holiday.

Motions and voting records for the agreed items were recorded on the public docket at the meeting.