On the Winning Side of Property Tax Assessments

Posted on August 22, 2023October 13, 2023 by Natalie Linville-Mass

Many residential and commercial businesses faced large tax assessment hikes for the 2023 year. Some commercial assessments increased well over 25% between 2022 to 2023. The County and City Assessors typically do a good job of capturing the sales data, but in setting values for some properties, they sometimes land at assessments outside the market norms. That is when an appraisal is helpful.

Roy R. Fisher has been providing appraisals for over 90 years, helping hundreds of Iowa and Illinois businesses and multi-family property owners appeal their tax assessments.

Through July of this year, Roy R. Fisher worked with several property owners to appeal their assessments. We were successful at the Board of Review level in helping the owners get reductions in 11 of 13 appeals where an appraisal was developed. The average reduction from the preliminary 2023 assessments was over 17%. In two cases, the reduction was more than 30% in the preliminary 2023 assessed value.

And we don’t just work with property owners. We have performed several appraisals for City and County Assessors throughout Iowa and Illinois, primarily valuing larger retail and industrial properties. This has helped Assessors and County Boards of Review defend their assessments.

These appraisals require extensive demographic analysis and a wide regional search for comparable data. Our firm strives to serve all our clients with impartiality and a commitment to credibility.

Scott County Property Tax Assessments

Posted on December 1, 2021September 19, 2022 by Natalie Linville-Mass

It’s time to think about property taxes. Real estate prices surged in 2020 and again in 2021. This is great if you’re selling a property, but not so great if you’re buying or facing an assessment that is going to raise your property taxes.

According to the Scott County Assessor, a combination of historically low interest rates, reduced property inventory in the county and throughout the Quad Cities, and increased local demand all sent property values to never-before-seen highs, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scott County Assessor is required by law to adjust assessed property values every two years, and 2021 is that year. This means assessments will rise for most properties in line with the local real estate market.

The Quad City Times has reported that the average residential property increased by about 8.5% in Scott County last year. Fortunately for commercial clients, those numbers were not as high for commercial properties. Commercial and industrial properties increased by about 6.5% in the county. Unfortunately, if your commercial real estate portfolio includes apartments and other multi-family dwellings, those values increased by about 13%. Unless you’re planning to sell and take in the profits in a hot real estate market, you’re going to be looking at a higher tax assessment.

There is a bit of good news for those commercial property owners who also own homes in Scott County. Homeowners in the county can now sign up for Homestead, Military, and BPTC property tax credits online. This is a new service provided by Scott County that should make life just a little bit easier for property owners. To qualify, the property owner must be a resident of Iowa, pay Iowa income tax, and occupy the property on July 1, and for at least six months of every year.

At this point in the year, there’s not much recourse for property owners who feel their assessments are too high. The deadline to appeal was in April.

While no one enjoys paying higher taxes, it’s worth remembering that these higher tax assessments mean your commercial property is worth more than ever before. If you’ve been thinking about selling properties, now may be the time to lock in and take those profits. If you want to hold onto those properties, it’s worth looking ahead to 2023 when the next assessments will go into effect.

For more information, contact the Scott County Assessor’s Office at 563-326-8635, email assessor@scottcountyiowa.gov, or contact us.

It is time to review your property tax assessment in Iowa!

Posted on January 8, 2021September 19, 2022 by Mark Nelson

Iowa properties can be reassessed each year, at of the assessor’s opinion of the market value of your property, so it is a good idea to check assessments annually. Additionally, the Iowa Department of Revenue reviews sales data, and can apply equalizers to assessments, separate from the Assessor’s work, which is another reason why you should review your tax assessment.

Notably, the assessed value is as of January 1, 2021. This will allow for consideration of any Covid-19 related impacts on property values.

Iowa tax assessments for 2020 will be out on April 2nd, but it is best to obtain the assessor information relevant to your assessment well before then. Each county has its own assessment office, and several cities, including Davenport, Clinton and Dubuque have separate assessment offices. They all have websites where you can access the property record card.

Has your assessment changed in the past couple years? Even if it hasn’t changed, if you believe the value is wrong, obtain a copy of the property record card. These are available are online for the assessor’s offices (Scott County and the City of Davenport use the same on-line system).

Review the information on the Property Record Card and be sure the land size and building size information are correct. Check the year built to be sure that is correct. If there are any errors, ask the assessor to update the information and revalue the property. Be sure the card recognizes any other changes to the property in the recent past, especially any buildings that have been removed.

If the value is too high, you can protest the assessment at the County Board of Review. The Scott County Assessor’s site lists Five Steps to An Appeal on their website, which should be applicable in other jurisdictions.

If you are unable to obtain an adjustment prior to the April 2nd date, you will need to file an appeal to the Board of Review. This is generally an informal process. Information on filing a property tax appeal can be found here. Similar information is available on other county websites. The taxpayer may ask the board to act on their appeal without a hearing. You may also request a hearing. With the Covid-19 rules, these hearings may be virtual.

Evidence supporting your opinion of value is needed whether or not you have a hearing. This can include sales of similar properties in the recent past, a recent appraisal for refinancing purposes, or an appraisal specifically requested for the appeal. Remember the date of the assessed value is January 1, 2021. The sales or appraisals need to be before, or shortly after, this date.

If you are still not satisfied with the assessment, an appeal can be filed with District Court or the State Appeal Board.

If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.