Valuations skyrocketing, prior to tax rates being set

BEATRICE – With the prospect of a large number of property valuation protests looming, Gage County officials are urging people who will be filing a protest to do so, as early as possible. That’s to give adequate time to hear the protests.

As of Wednesday, only about 40 protests had been filed since new valuations were mailed out, following the Memorial Day weekend.

The big change this year is a significant rise in residential and commercial valuations…..something County Assessor Pattricia Milligan says is being driven by market conditions. She says Gage County valuations have traditionally checked in at a median value that is at the lower end of the range required by state law.
"You guys know what's going on in the market. I've got eighty-eight hundred dryland sales again. What do I do? I've had you at 69-to-71 (percent of full market value)...I haven't had you up to 75. I've not had my residential up to 100, I've not had my commercial up to 100. I've got houses being sold for a hundred thousand more than I ever had them valued at."

Equalization Board member Terry Jurgens said of the valuations Wednesday, “It’s almost a full-time job for me….people complaining.”

State Senator Myron Dorn of Adams says he’s been getting calls about property valuations….in Gage County and across the state. The Nebraska Legislature has taken significant steps to provide property tax relief, but the higher valuations could still have a big impact, depending on what local governmental subdivisions do with their tax rates.

Residential and commercial property must hit a median between 92-percent and 100-percent of the market value…..Ag land, 69-to-75 percent.

"My rates are coming in at 70s, 80s...and you've got to get everything at a percentage in order to get it into compliance. I could have sit back and done nothing and they could have ordered me up to TERC(Tax Equalization and Review Commission)...but that's an assessor not doing her job. That's not something that after this many years of being here....I'm going to take the heat and I'm going to do it because that's what you guys (State of Nebraska) have said. I'm only doing value. With the type of valuation this year....there should probably be no increases on levies."

The question is will local governments hold steady or drop their tax rates? An assessor does not set what people pay in taxes….only the valuation….and Milligan says in today’s market...."If the buyers are paying more, and we've got 608 sales in Beatrice...a good representation of what's going on. We didn't even have houses on the market, people couldn't even find houses a year ago. That's all slowed down because of the interest rates...but when they were two percent.....all they cared about.....there are a group of 30-year-olds that are probably buying these $250,000 {properties)....that's a starter home."

Milligan said setting valuations involves comparing similar properties, whether sold or unsold.