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Residents press commissioners on assessment notices, millage and online calculators
Summary
Multiple residents raised concerns during the FY2026 public hearing about sudden assessment increases, confusion over how millage and assessed values affect tax bills, and inconsistencies in online tools; commissioners and staff pledged follow-up and documentation.
Several residents used the FY2026 public hearing to press the board for clearer explanations of how assessed values, millage rates and exemptions interact and to report discrepancies in online tax calculators.
"When the millage rate comes down, the valuation of the property goes up," AJ Paplaczek said during his remarks, summarizing the relationship that many residents find confusing. Paplaczek and others asked the commission to provide clearer public guidance and to investigate QPublic calculator discrepancies that produced markedly different tax-estimate outputs for the same property.
Richard Santiago told the board that assessors appeared to be "playing catch up" after prior under-assessments and urged a larger millage rollback to prevent large tax-bill increases for long-term residents. Several speakers also asked whether the county could or should pursue unpaid public-utility receivables and whether idle county-owned buildings could be sold or repurposed to reduce costs. Staff said exemption guidance and exception lists can be made more available to the public and agreed to follow up on calculator and billing concerns.
