Cass County tax equalization board recommends 1% reduction to Horace residential market adjustment

At a special meeting April 28, the Cass County Tax Equalization Board approved an assessment rule recommending a 1% downward market adjustment to residential assessed values in the City of Horace and said it will forward that recommendation to the county commission for final equalization review.

The local assessor, who presented the sales-ratio data, said Horace's median assessed-to-sale ratio was 95.28%, and that the city's residential market change for 2025 measured about 3.38% while new growth accounted for about 9.74% of the residential increase. "The median sales ratio was 95.28%, which falls very well in line with what we what we are typically shooting for," the assessor told the board during his presentation.

Board members repeatedly said those summary statistics did not fully capture recent local shocks and press coverage that they said depressed permitting and market activity. One member calculated an average home price of about $418,000 from the assessor's figures and said the market component equated to roughly $14,000 more per home compared with the prior year. "I personally cannot certify this," one member said, citing the degree of change affecting long-time residents.

The assessor explained the technical difference between a routine market adjustment and a full reassessment: market adjustments use recent arms-length sales to measure year-over-year price movement while a reassessment is a door-to-door valuation effort typically done every six to seven years to capture construction and missed information. He also reminded the board that tax bills are set by taxing entities' budgets and mill levies rather than assessments alone.

Board members discussed procedural options, including flagging specific areas for correction or proposing a flat percentage reduction. The assessor cautioned that county-level equalization must keep jurisdictions within the state's 90% to 100% median-sales tolerance and that the county commission could accept or override the city's recommendation. The assessor said he would forward the board's recommendation and that the county commission would make the final decision.

The motion approved by the board instructs staff to adopt the assessment rule reflecting a 1% decrease to the market adjustment for residential properties in Horace and to provide a letter explaining the board's reasoning to the Cass County Commission ahead of the county equalization meeting. The assessor gave the county equalization meeting date and time as June 1 at 03:30 and said any appeals or further objections could follow the county and state review processes.

The board voted by voice to approve the motion. The meeting adjourned following the vote.