1-28 - 29-2021 BOC Planning Retreat

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LEE COUNTY FINANCIAL REVIEW Lee County Reappraisal - Michael Brown Tax Administrator Michael Brown discussed the reappraisal process, which is where all real property in the County is evaluated and the Department arrives at a new market value as of January 1. As of January 1st the true value of the property is determined as set out by the Machinery Act. The principle behind property taxes and true value is "fair and equitable." The last reappraisal was in 2019. The next year general reappraisal is scheduled for 2023 based on a four-year cycle. The State has statutory requirements which include a mandatory reappraisal every 8 years. In Lee County, the Commissioners have passed a resolution to perform a reappraisal every 4 years. Counties can do any cycle within the 8 years. Staff recommends the County remain on a 4 year cycle. The project takes about 2 years to perform. The process will begin July 2021 and will be completed in June 2023. The period is over 2 years because all the work is done on the front end. There is a schedule for market value and present use value (properties that qualify for special valuation because of agriculture, forestry, or horticulture reasons). There is an appeal process that begins after notices are sent out. The Board of Equalization and Review is a Board appointed to by the Board of Commissioners to hear taxpayer appeals at the local level. After appeals are heard by the Board of Equalization and Review, they can be further appealed to the Property Tax Commission at the State level. Real property values will stay the same after a reappraisal is performed up until the next reappraisal. The Tax Department cannot consider changes in the market in between reappraisals. County staff will be used to value all residential vacant and improved parcels. A vendor is generally hired to appraise the commercial and industrial properties. There are approximately 28,694 residential parcels, 2,001 commercial/industrial parcels, 59 public service companies, and 1,098 exempt/excluded properties. The 2021 parcel count is not yet complete; however, the parcel count is expected to change based on development over the past year. The tax office has eagleview pictometry, which has layers that help in valuing the property. Eagleview pictometry is able to identify parcels that don't match over time which helps to identify improvements. The Board can evaluate the need to perform a reappraisal based on the assessment level. In cases where the assessment level (sales ratio of random sales) is close to 100% there may not be a need to perform a reappraisal which happed in the County back in 2017. About half the counties in the state are on a four-year cycle, which is intended to avoid sticker shock when the property values are adjusted after a reappraisal. 9