COM 0024.001 2010-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2011 Tax Board of Review Annual Report 6 Board's Recommendations 1. The practice of actively seeking and training new Board members is encouraged. 2. The vacancy to be left by Reiko Ford should be filled prior to the organizational meeting to be scheduled in March 2012. Training sessions should occur shortly thereafter. 3. The Board continues to recommend that the feasibility of a more aggressive outreach program to inform and educate citizens of this County on real property issues be considered. The Board has heard many cases where a better informed and educated citizenry could have prevented the filing of appeals. The number of appeals filed this year was in part due to the building values of properties not eligible to be in the homeowner's 3% growth cap. 4. The Board recommends that all Appraisers attend a mandatory all- island workshop prior to the start of the appeal hearings to receive the information and material discussed at the Board's annual workshop. 5. The Board again continues to recommend that the Real Property Tax Division update their website to be educational and informative to the taxpayers. 6. The Board continues to recommend that Section 19- 53(e)(2)(A) should be amended to include in the homeowner's class an owner /occupied property used for care giving and /or care home. Under the current code, an owner /occupied property that is partially used for a home - occupation and /or a rental qualifies to be in the homeowner's class but a property partially used as a care home does not qualify for this class, per the County's Planning Department. 7. Sales data should be shared and used amongst the real property appraisal staff for their annual re- evaluations to avoid large differences in values between relatively comparable neighborhoods within close proximity to each other. The uniformity and equality provision of the County Code requires a quality control program. 8. The Board recommends that the Appraisers provide information on the per square foot cost based on their system of the square foot living area and delineation between multiple floors. This worksheet should be included as a standard document in the Appeal Data Worksheet packet prepared by the Appraisers. 9. The Board has recommended over the past few years that prior years' market and assessed values be posted on the County's Real Property Tax website. Appellants have stated on many occasions that they have attempted to compare prior years' assessments with their neighbors but the information was not available on the website. It seems that this could readily be addressed since the prior years' assessments are part of the division's database.