04-20-2011 Council Minutes Local Board of Appeal & Equalization

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO 2011 LOCAL BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION Wednesday, April 20, 2011 7:00 o'clock p.m. • cars come into his yard. Bessesen indicated the taxes he has to pay are a hardship for them because he is semi- retired and his wife is retired. Bessesen stated he is not sure why the property taxes are so high. McMillan asked whether Mr. Bessesen has spoken with the assessor's office. Bessesen indicated he left a message but has not heard back. Stulc noted he was unable to return the phone call since no phone number was left. Bessesen provided his phone number to the assessor. The Board directed the assessor contact Mr. Bessesen. 4. BRUCE BIRKELAND, 1298 WILDHURST TRAIL, #07- 117 -23 -31 -0027 and #07- 117- 23 -31- 0026 Birkeland stated this property has been held in trust for the past couple of years and has been on the market as well. Birkeland indicated he recently had Edina Realty out to visit the property and they came up with a valuation that was a lot lower than the county's valuation. The market value on the house is $1,210,000. Edina Realty says it is worth $675,000. The other lot is listed at $1,000,042 and Edina Realty says it is worth $742,000. • Birkeland stated he has some similar issue to John Bessesen in that a portion of the property is now under water. The adjoining lot has a small garage on it and they are not sure whether that is a buildable lot. Birkeland displayed an aerial photo of his property to the Board. Birkeland stated he and his family have been paying taxes on the lots since 1965. They want to be able to sell it and have someone be able to build on the lot. There is a property that just sold down the street for $800,000 but had been listed at a $1.2 million for a couple of years. Birkeland indicated he is not familiar with the whole process but is trying to get his foot in the door and have someone look at the property. Stulc requested Mr. Birkeland provide a copy of the appraisal completed by Edina Realty to the assessor's office. Birkeland stated they have been, watching the property valuations going up now for three years while the sale prices for properties in the neighborhood have been dropping. Birkeland indicated they have been paying $26,000 a year in taxes, which is a hardship. Franchot noted the county's valuations tend to lag behind sales prices by about a year and asked whether that is starting to flatten out. Stulc stated in comparing sales since October 1, 2010, to the beginning of March 2011 with the 2011 assessed values, the sales show that the valuations are still down. • Page 6