County appraiser experiences dogs, arguments and scenery in the field

Chelan County appraiser Dave Oliver talks with property owner Charlene Anderson as he works on the on-site appraisal of the property in the Tarpiscan, south of Malaga. During visits, he walks around and sees if anything has changed significantly in the four years since a county appraiser last examined the property in person. Numerous factors determine property values A visit by an assessor is just one of several factors that determine property valuation. Other key factors are voter-approved levies, which may increase property taxes; and market analysis, which may or may not increase property taxes. “The market really is the driving force behind whether your valuation is going up or down,” said Deanna Walter, Chelan County assessor. Property values are based on market neighborhoods, which are areas in which homes are reacting to the market in similar ways. She provided a couple of examples, with both being in areas with no new voter-approved levies. In a neighborhood where values go up, each property owner’s levy rate would go down. And if neighborhood values are going down, levy rates would go up. However, in both cases, taxes won’t necessary go up or down because each property owner in the county must still pay a proportionate share of taxes. For tax purposes, the best place for a homeowner to be in the market is in the middle of the pack, Walter said. That’s when the homeowner’s property values stay about equal to those in the rest of the county. Then everyone shares equally in any increases or decreases in property taxes. In that case, property taxes usually remain about the same from year to year. One of the worst places to be is in a home that has increased in value when most other homes in the county have stayed the same or decreased in value. In most cases that homeowner would see an increase in property taxes. Walter said homeowners need to know that their assessed valuation is based on sales from the previous year, which impact taxes for the following year. To appeal a tax assessment, homeowners can download a form off the Chelan County assessor’s website, or pick up a form at the office in the courthouse. The assessor’s office also has a page on its website with answers to frequently asked questions. That can be viewed at co.chelan.wa.us/assessor. Total value of all taxable parcels: $8.66 billion Total taxes brought in annually (2012): $90,045,802 Total number of taxable parcels in the county: 51,000 In Chelan County, 88 percent of the land is in state or federal ownership, meaning it is exempt from property taxes. The remaining 12 percent of land is broken down as: • 83 percent residential • 13 percent commercial • 4 percent agricultural Sources: Chelan County assessor and treasurer Douglas County, by the numbers Total value of all taxable parcels: $3.68 billion Total taxes brought in annually (2012): $41,104,380 Total number of taxable parcels in the county: 25,752 In Douglas County, 15 percent of the land is in state or federal ownership, meaning it is exempt from property taxes. The remaining 85 percent of land is broken down as: • 61 percent residential • 3 percent commercial • 36 percent agricultural WENATCHEE — Dave Oliver never knows what’s going to happen when he approaches a piece of private property in Chelan County. He could be met by dogs: “One time I had a dog leap off the porch at me, going 100 mph,” says Oliver, a county appraiser. “It kind of made me upset; the people knew I was there, too, because they’d seen me drive up.” He could be greeted by an angry homeowner: “If someone tells me to get off their property, I’m going,” he said. “If I get a chance, I will tell them that I will estimate the value of their land from a distance but that may or may not be to their advantage.” But most of the time, he finds homeowners friendly and courteous when he knocks on a front door, or he finds the property owners not at home. In that case, he sticks a business card in the door jamb. Either way, he then walks around and sees if anything has changed significantly in the four years since a county appraiser last examined the property in person. Oliver is one of eight appraisers in Chelan and Douglas counties who examine residential property. They are foot soldiers in the collection of information that helps determine how much residents pay in property taxes that fund schools; fire districts, library, hospital and cemetery districts; along with weed, pest and irrigation services. An appraiser for six years and a banker for 27 years before that, Oliver estimates that he spends 10 to 20 minutes at each developed property. He’s looking for new additions, such as garages and permanently affixed out-buildings; and the condition of the buildings so he can put an accurate depreciation measure on it. He takes into account new exterior paint or vinyl, and new roofs. He pays no attention to landscaping, fencing or the interior of homes. Those are not part of his appraisal process. This fall and winter,Oliver and three other residential appraisers are working the southern part of the Chelan County, south of Orondo Street and into the Colockum. They are also working in the Cashmere area. Each appraiser is responsible for about 3,000 residential parcels. Oliver said they expect to finish those by late January or early February. After that, they will spend about two months looking at sales activity in the evaluated area for the past year, then they will use that data to value each property. After new valuations are mailed out in late May, the appraisers stay in the office and take questions from the public. Next, in the summer, they evaluate new construction throughout the entire county. Then, it’s fall and the in-person residential appraisals start over again, but in a different part of the county. In the fall of 2013, that will be north Wenatchee, Sunnyslope, Monitor and Entiat. Oliver says the hardest part of his job, in addition to dogs, is finding improvements that may be on property that he has to reach via long dirt roads and up canyons. He also finds it hard when homeowners challenge why he’s there. “They can be kind of chewing you out for what they perceive is big government,” he said. “I try to just listen and give them information about the process.” What he likes best about his job is the independence, and he likes chatting with friendly people. Once in a while, he said, someone will invite him in for a cup of coffee. He said he always declines the offer. He can’t spare the time and he never goes inside houses as part of his job. Oliver said he sometimes feels like a prowler when he’s walking around people’s property, especially when they haven’t answered his knock on the door. He recalled one time when a police patrol car crawled through the area and the officer looked him over. “He saw my county car and kept on going,” said Oliver, who added that he was pretty sure someone called authorities about his presence. He’s relieved that no one has ever ordered him off their property at gunpoint. He did, however, have to appraise a piece of property one time that was owned by a man who had sent a threatening letter to the assessor’s office. The man said he didn’t want anyone coming on his land. Chelan County appraiser Dave Oliver makes notes about a property he is appraising in the Tarpiscan, south of Malaga. Oliver was prepared to take a sheriff’s deputy with him until he realized he could see the man’s property well enough for an appraisal from a nearby bluff. Oliver, 64, hopes to retire from the appraising job in a year or two and expects to do some traveling with his wife, Gina. Still, he said, he’ll miss the work that has taken him to places in the county he never knew existed. “It’s been an eye-opener on the nature of the county,” he said. “There are some real pretty areas and I’ve seen lots of wildlife. Just the other day, I saw a bear and a deer on the road. That was something you’d never see from a desk job.”

New Jersey storm-hit areas may see property tax hikes: Christie

New Jersey's towns badly hit by superstorm Sandy may raise property taxes to finance their rebuilding efforts, Governor Chris Christie said on Wednesday.

A 2 percent state cap on annual increases can be ignored by local governments if there is a natural disaster, he said in an interview with CBS radio.

If towns "need to spend some money to get themselves going," a property tax is possible, Christie said.

Christie has campaigned for months on a "Jersey Comeback," a plan that includes tax cuts to boost the state's shaky economy. Earlier this week, he said he would wait to see what Sandy's impact on local finances would be before deciding whether to press ahead with more tax cut requests, local media reported.

Areas badly ravaged by the storm, which tore through the U.S. Northeast at the end of October, will need repairs in housing, businesses and critical infrastructure systems like transportation.

The federal government and insurers are expected to pay for many recovery costs, but the reimbursement process can be long.

Local governments, whose funds are stressed by immediate damage repair costs, are also losing sales taxes and other revenues.

New Jersey, the seventh-largest state economy, has not yet provided estimates on economic damage by the storm, but Christie said he hoped to have a figure by the end of the week.

Neighboring New York State plans to ask the federal government for $30 billion in disaster aid to help with the recovery for New York City, Long Island and other devastated areas.

In February, Christie proposed a 10 percent across-the-board income-tax cut. The Democrat-led Legislature cut a deal with Christie for a plan to provide property-tax credits on residents' income tax returns for those earning less than $400,000 a year.

But state lawmakers, concerned about lagging revenues, didn't include the proposed cuts in the $31.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2013, which the governor signed in July.

Property taxes

Oklahoma considers ending a property tax that costs airlines, utilities and pipeline companies $50 million annually for software, patents, leases and other non-phsyical property. Oregon may eliminate real estate transfer taxes. In Ohio, 194 school districts have tax levies on the ballot. Milford Township, Mich., outside Detroit, considers a $190,000 tax hike for a three-acre skate park.