04-09-2012 Local Board of Appeal and Equalization Meeting Minutes

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BOARD OF REVIEW MINUTES April 9, 2012 APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES 2 MINUTES 3 BOARD OF APPEAL 4 5 DATE : April 9,2012 6 TIME STARTED : 6:04 p.m. 7 TIME ENDED : 6:35 p.m. 8 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Member Stoesz, Roeser,Rafferty, 9 O'Donnell and Mayor Reinert 10 MEMBERS ABSENT : none 11 12 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Finance Director Al Rolek; Public Safety 13 Director John Swenson; City Clerk Julie Bartell 14 15 The council received the 2012 Assessor's Report from Anoka County. 16 17 Anoka County Assessor Linda Weiner noted the purpose of the meeting as included in the posted 18 official notice: to hear appeals from property owners about the current year valuation of their 19 property. She noted that the Board can make decisions related to the appeals they hear and can make 20 changes to property valuations (within certain limits). The purpose of the meeting is not to discuss 21 property taxes. She noted that Council Member Roeser has received the required training for the 22 Board of Appeal process. 23 '24 Ms. Weiner noted that the only property owners present are a group from the Bald Eagle Lake area. 25 She called their representative to come forward. 26 27 John Kulas, 6110 West Bald Eagle,noted that not all affected properties owners were able to attend. 28 He distributed some written information regarding their appeal. He recalled for the council that the 29 properties in question are split between taxing jurisdictions in Lino Lakes (Anoka County) and Hugo 30 (Washington County) and as a result are not being fairly valued. The mayor noted that the council 31 had the opportunity to review the facts around these properties at their most recent work session so all 32 council members should understand the background of this appeal. Mr. Kulas explained that the lots 33 in question are unbuildable next to the lake (that is the portion in Washington County). They would 34 like a value reduction and he is presenting information in his handout to support that action, including 35 overall drops in property values, sales information on like properties, and a newspaper add indicating 36 asking prices for like properties. He has also provided information showing one of the property's 37 history of taxes and data that was provided in the past. Information was also provided on properties 38 in Ham Lake. It is their opinion that the properties are not being taxed on the basis of land only. An 39 unidentified property owner added that the case that they are trying to make is that their valuations are 40 higher than what they should be for just that land in Washington County; they are frustrated that the 41 county won't recognize that. They recognized that Anoka County Assessor Linda Weiner has done a 42 good job working with them and their concern is mainly with Washington County. Mayor Reinert 43 noted that Anoka County reduced its share of the property by 10% last year and this year the land 44 value is down 13%. A fair approach would be a valuation that would stand as if these properties 45 were located fully in one county. Ms. Weiner explained that she has had contact with Washington 1