HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC BOARD OF REVIEW MINUTES 04111989 Meeting Sheet
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Box: 21
Folder. CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1989
Document: CC MINUTES 04111989
• C 2 TY OF S T . ANTHONY
BOARD O F REV= EW M 2 NUTS S
AP R M L 1 1 , 1 9 8 9
1 The Board of Review was convened by Mayor Sundland at 6:30 P.M. with
2 SundlaM,, Ranallo, Enrooth, and Makowske present. Marks arrived at 7: 18
3 P.M.
4 Also present: David Childs, City Manager
5 Richard O. Becken, Hennepin County Assessors Office
6 The procedures which would be followed for the hearing were explained
7 by Mayor Sundland who indicated the Board of Review that evening was
8 only the first step property owners had available to get their market
9 valuations or classifications lowered, with appearances before the
10 Hennepin County Board of Equalization and State Tax Courts the next
11 steps in the process. Councilmember Enrooth clarified that a re-
12 evaluation of a property by an assessor or an appraiser could result in
13 either a raise or decrease in that valuation or classification. Mayor
14 Sundland added that in any event the Board of Review would not be
15 changing valuations of less than $1,000.00. Councilmember Ranallo and
Mr. Childs pointed out that the City's levy represented only about 16%
of the "tax pie" or $250.00 of the total property tax for an average
18 $85,000.00 home in St. Anthony.
19, Mr. Becken indicated that one quadrant of St. Anthony had been
20 physically appraised by his department that year and valuations of the
.21 75% which were not reappraised were recalculated by computer which is
22 programmed to show the increases and changes in value for real estate.
23 The assessor said this had averaged to a 5% increase for St. Anthony
24 properties which, with almost the same percentage the previous year,
25 amounted to close to a 10% raise for the City in the last two years,
26 depending on the type of home a property owner had. Mr. Becken also
27 indicated that if a property owner is convinced the home is overvalued,
28 an .abatement for two years back can be sought through the Board of
29 Equalization and finally through the Tax Court. A book showing a
30 sampling of sales from September, 1987, to September, 1988, of five
31 different home types in St. Anthony had been distributed to
32 Councilmembers who then sent their copies out to be examined by persons
33 present for the hearing.
34 There, was concurrence that it would be helpful for the information in
35 the book to include the assessed valuations for each of these
36 properties.
37 Council Requests Re-appraisals or Continuation of Abatement Processes
38 for Nine St. Anthony Properties
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The property owners requesting further evaluations of their properties
or who indicated their intent to pursue abatements of previous years'
3 evaluations through the Board of Equalization, June 19th, were:
4 Glen Ford, 3608 Silver Lake Road, who reported he had lost 640 square
5 feet on the front of his property to the Silver Lake Road/37th
6 Avenue N.E. reconstruction project, for which the County had paid
7 him $5,000.00, but had raised the valuation in spite of the fact
8 that there was less property to evaluate.
9 Deloris J. Miskowiec, 2417 St. Anthony Boulevard N.E. , who questioned
10 how the assessor, who had evaluated her property without even
11 coming into her home, could have raised its classification from
12 5 to 4 at this late date, after 30 years of ownership with no
13 more changes than a recent installation of a cement driveway and
14 numerous evaluations by County appraisers, who had not changed
15 the property classification. The property owner said her
16 valuation had increased $17,500.00 after a visit by the appraiser
17 this year, which, she commented, led her to question the
18 training of the evaluators. The training assessors/appraisers
19 receive was explained by Mr. Becken, who added that even allowing
20 for differences in judgement related to the value of the property
21 between evaluators, those appraisals should be within only 5% of
22 each other. He told Mrs. Miskowiec a new appraiser might give
23 her a more acceptable evaluation. If that didn't happen, she
still had the option of appealing her valuation at the Board of
Equalization or State Tax Court.
26 Donald E. Kraft, 2504 St. Anthony Boulevard who had reported never
27 having an appraisal made of his home in the 16 years he had owned
28 it, was requested to make an appointment with someone in Mr.
29 Becken's office immediately so that person could make an onsite
30 inspection of his home before the Board of Hearing is reconvened
31 within the required 20 days.
32 Donald Harcom, 3001 - 36th Avenue N.E. requested a second onsite
33 evaluation, as did
34 John and Phyllis Anderson, 3637 Silver Lake Road.
35 Mr. and Mrs. Michael Bird, indicated they had moved into their home at
36 3416 Edward Street N.E. , the previous fall having purchased their
37 home for $128,000.00. They reported the 1987 valuation for the
38 home had been $125,000.00 which had gone to $142 ,000.00 for 1988.
39 A complaint about the raise had resulted in a re-appraisal of the
40 home after which the assessor had indicated he estimated the
41 value would probably be $132,000.00, which the couple perceived
42 was still too high based on the 93% median rule, which should
43 have valued the home at $119,000.00 after the sale. Their
44 presence that evening was to assure their ability to appeal for
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1 an abatement of the $132,000.00 1988 valuation for the home
before the Board of Review.
3 Nancy Soldatow, 3217 - 32nd Avenue N.E. , reported she was still
4 dissatisfied with the reduction of her home's valuation from
5 $113,000.00 to $107,000.00 because 3 different real estate
6 agencies had quoted sales prices which were from $3 ,000.00 to
7 $8,000.00 lower even after the $10,000.00 in repairs which needed
8 to be done. Her presence that evening was also to keep the Board
9 of Equalization avenue open to her, she said.
10 Genevieve Schuster, 3204 Townview Avenue N.E. , requested an onsite
11 review of her property because she perceived her valuation was
12 between $2,000.00 and $2 ,500.00 higher than she could ever get
13 for her home.
14 Peter Osipenko, 3417 Edward Street N.E. , said appraisers had been in
15 home many times but had not convinced him that a 10% raise of
16 $4,700.00 in his valuations was justified in 1989 when he had
17 made no changes in his home since the last evaluation was made.
18 His was one of the homes which had been damaged in the 1984
19 tornado, after which a court appointed appraiser had evaluated
20 his home and the complainant reiterated that he could no longer
21 afford to live in his home on a retirement pension. He said he
22 also didn't think the price the owner of a similar home on Belden
23 had gotten for his property had been close enough to its real
valuation to be used as a justification for raising his
valuation.
26 Mr. Becken then answered a question about hiring outside assessors to
27 fight Hennepin County's valuations by saying persons who appear before
28 the Board of , Equalization can introduce any testimony they perceive
29 pertinent to their appeal.
30 Persons who did not request onsite re-evaluations or who didn't intend
31 to seek abatements of prior year valuations included:
32 Carol Sorenson, Housing Manager for Walker on Kenzie Apartments,
33 indicated the project managers had requested she just observe the
34 hearing. She later told the H.R.A. members she wanted to compliment the
35 City Police and Fire Departments for rapid response to any call from any
36 of those apartments.
37 Richard T. Roman, 2517 - 36th Avenue N.E. , said he was only present to
38 learn more about the valuation process.
39 Frank Roes, 2817 Stinson Boulevard, asked questions about the relation
40 of the school referendum, which had not passed, and the property tax
41 which residents could expect to pay for the school district's share of
42 the "property tax pie" . He was told the City's share of that pie was
43 only 16% and the Council was only qualified to speak about the fire and
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1 police services as well as street maintenance costs, etc. , on which the
•2 City's levy was based.
3 James Murphy, 2601 - 36th Avenue N.E. , indicated his home was valued at
4 $103,000.00, which resulted in taxes to high for him to pay on
5 retirement pension. He speculated that "the City's tax base was too
6 high" and said he suspected the reason was "that there must be a misuse
7 of public funds somewhere along the way. " The City's response to this
8 was stated by Councilmember Ranallo who drew attention to the fact that
9 the budget is discussed openly each year during public hearings which
10 are well publicized so as to give the residents an opportunity to share
11 in the budget decisions.
12 Robert E. Brown, 3304 Wendhurst Drive N.E. (a former St. Anthony School
13 District Superintendent) , indicated he believed, the decrease in the
14 State's support for the elementary and high schools in Minnesota had
15 shifted the responsibility back to the school districts and caused them
16 to raise their levies to make up for the reduction in state aids. He
17 was told that except for the current year when the City had been able
18 to reduce its levy somewhat because it had received more state aid than
19 in past years, this raise was still not enough to offset the drastic
20 reductions in aid St. Anthony had received in previous years. Mr.
21 Brown's assumption that "the ratio between real estate sales and
22 assessed valuations gave the most accurate picture of property
23 valuations" resulted in a detailed discussion between the resident and
24 the assessor.
105 Mildred Dencho, 2501 - 30th Avenue N.E. , said she was just present, to
26 express her own dissatisfaction with her raise in valuation but did not
27 request another onsite evaluation.
28 John Labenski, 2801 West Armour Terrace, who had accompanied his
29 daughter, RoseAnne Bird, to the meeting, was told the appraisal
30 evaluations on residential property were based on the cost approach and
31 the average cost per square foot on St. Anthony property was $75.00 per
32 square foot. He was also told the book which had been passed around
33 carried only a 10% representation of the 105 homes sold in St. Anthony
34. from September 1987 to September 1988.
35 ADJOURNMENT
36 Motion by Enrooth, seconded by Makowske to adjourn the Board of Review
37 hearing at 7:27 P.M. to be reconvened at 6: 30 P.M. just before the April
38 25th Council meeting.
39 Motion carried unanimously.
40 Respectfully submitted,
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