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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/22/1985 Council Minutes1 58 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 1985 A Special Meeting of the Lino Lakes City Council was called to order by Councilman Kulaszewicz at 6:00 P.M., April 22, 1985. Council members present: Marier, Bohjanen. Mayor Benson and Councilman Reinert arrived several minutes later. City Administrator, Randy Schumacher; Assessor Margie Roisum and County Assessor Ed Thurston were also present. The purpose of this Special Meeting was to reconvene the Annual Board of Equalization. Mr. Pierre Nadeau of 6644 - 20th Avenue, Mr. Andrew Cardinal of 6657 Centerville Road and Mrs. Helen Rykel of 1926 Birch Street were in the audience. Major Benson explained that the members of the Council did go out into the field and inspect parcels of land belonging to Mr. Car- dinal and Mr. Nadeau as planned on April 15, 1985. Mrs. Roisum supplied to the Council copies of the valuation sheets for nine parcels of property in Lino Lakes. Some of the property _is'owned by other residents in the City. She explained the meaning of each valuation sheet. She also pointed out the parcels on a City map. Mrs. Roisum and members of the Council went through each of the valuation sheets with Mr. Nadeau. Mr. Nadeau had some comments regarding the valuation sheets. He asked where valuation per acre came from (1100, 1250 and 1400 per acre based on the distance from the metro area). He felt it was way out of line. It was explained these figures came from the County. Mr. Nadeau asked; are we assessing ourselves or is the County telling us what to put on these? He did not think the County should be giving this City guidelines. Mrs. Roisum ex- plained that there are not enough sales in Lino Lakes to make any judgements. Mr. Nadeau suggested that all land in Lino Lakes should be valued at the same rate per acre. Mr. Nadeau then noted that the farm land is valued based on whether or not the land is tillable and some is valued by how far it is from the metro area. The same standards are not applied to all lands. Mr. Nadeau questioned the value placed on the wetlands. He felt this was too low. He said the wooded land is valued at the same rate as tillable land. This means that all of Lino Lakes should be re- evaluated. He felt the assessor should be looking at mar- ket value not whether it is green acres, homestead, hardship case, for developing or just for an investment. Mr. Bohjanen asked Mr. Nadeau how he would value wetlands. Mr. Nadeau said by how wet it is. Mayor Benson said what he is trying to determine is if the formula being used is uniformally across all the properties in the area. What he is getting from Mr. Nadeau is that the Council should look at increasing the value of wetlands and Lino Lakes should be looked 1 1 1 1 1 1 SPECIAL COUNCIL MF'ETING April 22, 1985 Page -2- at as a whole rather than as a part of Anoka County. Mr. Nadeau said yes and he also said he is saying that the City is putting the estimated market value on land depending on whether or not it is farmed, not depending on whether it is high, low, or wooded. He feels the estimated market value on farm land is too high be- cause of this practice. Mr. Reinert said what the Council is trying to do is the best they can and from what has been brought out and seen there are no major discrepancies other than certain judgements that Mr. Nadeau had exercised as to what land may be worth. The Council has to rely on some human judgements and past track records. This City can- not afford to walk every parcel in this City. Mr. Nadeau asked if he is in agreement with the assessor's valu- ations of these parcels? Mr. Reinert said if he were to walk every parcel he would probably find some differences of opinion. This cannot be done. Mr. Nadeau and the Council discussed the parcel owned by Mr. Car- dinal again regarding its value. Mr. Kulazewicz asked Mr. Nadeau if he would go along with what the Council decides tonight. Mr. Nadeau said no. Mayor Benson said to Mr. Nadeau what he is talking about is re- vamping the way all land is assessed in Lino Lakes. This is not reasonable. Mr. Nadeau asked the Council if they would take action on the dis- crepancy on the value of his property and Mr. Cardinals. Mayor Benson said no. Mr. Nadeau asked if the City would get an apprai- ser. Mayor Benson said no. Mr. Reinert said he felt the Council could not select one parcel and use that as a judgement without having a comparison of similar types of parcels. Mr. Nadeau is asking the Council to be one iso- lated parcel and make an example of it and change it. He did not think there was that much of a discrepancy in this case. Mr. Nadeau said he is disappointed and is resolved to go to the state for further action. Mr. Nadeau said the County has reviewed the estimated market values on all his property. Some of the parcels were reduced but they raised the value of his house $20,000.00. Next year he plans to come back to the Council and question the value of his buildings. Mayor Benson told Mr. Nadeau the Council has looked at the way the market value was calculated on his property and the way the tax was applied to each one and did not see any variance or evidence that Mr. Nadeau was being unduly assessed or a different rule was applied for his estimated market values. 159 16 " SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 1985 Page -3- The Council is not going to look at a different way to assess City property tonight. If this is done it will be done through the en- tire City. Mr. Nadeau said he came in to ask the Council to reduce the esti- mated market value on his property. He thanked the Council for their time and appreciated the time and effort. Mayor Benson closed the Board of Equalization with no finding of fact. Mr. Kulazewicz moved to adjourn at 7:10 P.M. Mr. Bohjanen seconded the motion. Aye These minutes were considered, corrected and approved by a regular meeting on May 13, 1985. hil(0-1,[44, Marilyn G. Anderson, City Clerk :enja yin :-S's.n, Mayor 1 1