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CC 1995 05 08 BORCHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW MAY 8, 1995 Mayor Chmiel called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Chmiel, Councilman Senn, Councilman Mason, Councilwoman Dockendorf and Councilman Berquist STAFF PRESENT: Don Ashworth, Roger Knutson, Todd Gerhardt, and Orlin Schafer BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW. Mayor Chmiel: ...the Hennepin County within the City of Chanhassen. We have two counties, believe it or not. Three school districts and a few other things. And of course we have Orlin who will be here as well. Yes sir. Would you please come up to the podium and state your name and your address and also the PIN number that you have. Steve Rademacher: Steve Rademacher, 203 1/2 Chan View. My taxes are going to go up $10,000.00 this year. $10,000.00 next year. They were at $84,000.00. They want to jump 10 this year and 10 next year .... will be to $106,000.00. My assessor called me and told me that she would go to $103 possibility. She would try to get it there. I still don't feel that is proper. I live in a 2 bedroom house up and 1 down and I don't feel I should be... I'm wondering xvhat they can do. Mayor Chmiel: Well that's something that we can have some discussions xvith. No decisions are really going to be made this evening but they will be back on the agenda on the 22nd of May. And at that time we can probably address that particular question, depending upon what Orlin has really come up with. Steve Rademacher: Are we financially hurting in the town of Chanhassen that we've got to raise them this high? Mayor Chmiel: We're pretty xvell self sustaining but that taxes and comparable issues as far as worth of home are the things that they go for. Steve Rademacher: Who's going to give me that amount of money for that house? I'll sell it today~ Mayor Chmiel: And I understand that, yeah. Don Ashworth: Well, if that is not the correct value, then that's what you and Orlin should be discussing. Steve Rademacher: ...txvo weeks ago. And my wife talked to me this morning, and you said you possibly could get it to 1037 And I want to 'know what my next step is. Mayor Chmiel: Okay. After this, if you still don't agree with what we have done here, you have that opportunity to get before the County Board and what date will that be? Orlin Schafer: June 9th. Mayor Chmiel: Okay. Orlin Schafer: And that's on that ~vhite card. If you're not satisfied with whatever results there are... Board of Equalization and Review - May 8, 1995 Mayor Chmiel: Good. Anyone else? Yes. Resident: My name is...taxable market value of $132,100.00 and in 1995 it will be $133...taxable market value of $152,600.00 and absolute market value of $159,200.00. There has been no improvements to our home... Olin Schafer made a statement that could not be heard on the tape. Mayor Chmiel: Is there anyone else? If not. Tom Hubert: Tom Hubert...401 Del Rio Drive. I was just xvondering, I retired 4 years ago and my taxes they have doubled since then. Now they xvent up...$16,000.00 more from last year. At that rate it don't take long... move right out of Chanhassen. I xvas just wondering what you had to say about that. Mayor Chmiel: I -knoxv exactly what you're saying. Tom Hubert: How can a guy keep on xvith the taxes have doubled in 4 years since I retired and now next year, they come and they raise the value $16,000.00 again, we can't keep our place. Mayor Chmiel: Did you have any additional valuation changes last year? Or prior to that? Tom Hubert: No. Not a one. Mayor Chmiel: Okay. Orlin? Orlin Schafer: That's one of the first steps... Tom Hubert: It just seems out of line to keep raising them like this. Orlin Schafer: Do you feel the value is unreasonable for the home? Tom Hubert: Not really but just because the value goes up doesn't mean you have to, you should lower the mil rate. It's just like having to buy checks. You just keep taking and taking. I don't 'know... Mayor Chmiel: Well, two other locations too that you can form some of your concerns with are with the County as well as with the School District. Because of the taxes. The City of Chanhassen, we haven't raised taxes in the past 6 years. This year we did raise it. We raised that 1/3 of 1% was the only amount that got raised. But the previous years that the city has gone through, for most of those years we've decreased taxes within the city and xve have gotten to the point where valuations of property seemed to continually rise and you're in the same predicament that I'm in. You've got one more year on me. I've only have 3 years of retirement but it's getting to that point where this could basically affect me as well. And I think there's some things that we really have to start looking at. Legislature put a cap on it and I'm not sure what that had happened. Don Ashxvorth: The Bill is still alive at the legislature. I think it's passed out of the House but it's in Committee or something in the Senate. It probably will go to Conference Committee. You would be smart in trying to contact your Representative who is Tom Wor'kman, or your Senator who is Ed Oliver. Voicing your Board of Equalization and Reviexv - May 8, 1995 support for that particular Bill. If you'd call me tomorrow I could get the House File number. It's easier for the legislators to folloxv if you can say House File 1510 or whatever. Do you 'kno~v off the top Odin? Olin Schafer's answer could not be heard on the tape. Tom Hubert: ...people come and they moved in here...start building schools. Really the only difference we get...Isn't that right? The more people that move into Chanhassen here, the more people moving in and the more schools we've got to deal with and then our taxes go right up. And that happens._ Don Ashworth: Well, I would disagree with you. Tom Hubert: ...but that's the truth. Don Ashworth: No it really isn't but. Tom Hubert: Yes it is. Orlin Schafer: Well I can speak directly to that. Tom Hubert: We're paying more than what Hennepin County is right now for the same house. For instance if my house right now, I can go to Hennepin County, down in Hopkins, wherever~ I am paying close to $14,000.00 for my same house than what they are paying down there~ Orlin Schafer: When you say paying, are you saying paying taxes? Tom Hubert: For the house. Orlin Schafer: ...there's houses down in Minneapolis that are a lot less that those in Chanhassen. That doesn't mean that... Tom Hubert: Well the school in the Minnetonka School District... Orlin Schafer: What the gentleman was referring to was the TIF Districts and so forth that we have in the community and his understanding is that because they are here, they don't pay tax so therefore the residential area picks up the tab for all that. That's not correct at all. That's very far from the fact~ I don't know where that notion got started but that's not at all correct. Those businesses pay a lot of taxes~ In fact if some people really understood how much taxes Rosemount Engineering really pays~ Tom Hubert: From the first year on that they were here? Orlin Schafer: From the first year on they were paying close to a million dollars a year. Now that's not peanuts. Not in my book. I don't know if it is in anyone elses. Mayor Chmiel: I think what you're saying Orlin. Tom Hubert: We pay a lot of taxes. Well how many square footage have they got? How many acres do they have? They can consider that also how much each homeowner's got~ How many houses you can put on there. Board of Equalization and Review - May 8, 1995 Orlin Schafer: Their tax rate, their tax...ratio is roughly 2 1/2 times what it is for a homeowner. If you want to figure it that xvay...way of looking at it. Tom Hubert: Well I guess one thing that I still don't quite understand is, why do we have to go through all these meetings. Show up down at the Courthouse when we are paying our assessors to do this job. Orlin Schafer: Alright. If our assessors, including myself...and we could actually get to every value exactly xvhere it's supposed to be, we'd be... Tom Hubert: Well I had my house appraised by a realtor and it ain't come nowhere close to it. Now that's by one realtor. That's possible. Orlin Schafer: You are not the exception by any means but you might well be the exception in the overall scheme of things. When you're dealing with somewhere around 5,500 homestead houses and we have time constraints to do this job in, and xve have 150 people show up that are questioning their value, that's a very small percentage of the overall picture. But for every one of those houses that are incorrect in value, I still think xve're still doing a very good job... Tom Hubert: I can bring up my whole neighborhood here and... Orlin Schafer: ...because they feel if their property value goes up, their taxes go up automatically. That is not always true, and it's noxv always true that if your value goes down, your taxes go down. There are some neighborhoods that got an increase this year that we 'knoxv was a little bit extreme in some cases and not every house in that neighborhood, and we have given some of those adjustments. The Council was well aware of that. Tom Hubert: Well I felt I pointed out enough of the reasons xvhy I xvanted, felt my taxes should be down to the assessor when she was out there that I shouldn't have to go through this. Orlin Schafer: That it should be loxvered? Tom Hubert: Yes. Orlin Schafer: Yes, it's possible that it will happen. If Ann's already turned the number through the system and she thought $103,000.00 was still a legitimate number, then that's what xvas going forward. They can approve that or disapprove that. That's strictly up to the Board. And if they want to lower it, they will. If they don't, that's, the question's to them. Then it can go onto the County Board. Tom Hubert: I xvent through this same problem 4 years ago and I didn't have any problem with the Assessor back then. He came out and we came to an agreement what it was going to be at and that's where it stayed. Now all of a sudden we've got to go through all this other rig-a-ma-roll. Orlin Schafer: Well, it's a procedure that we all, it's not politics. There's no politics involved. ! really don't care what your value is. Furthermore I really don't care what your taxes are. I'm just doing my job. My job is...I don't 'know where anybody lives. I could care less. I really don't know anything about your homes other than I 'knoxv the sales and I know the techniques and I know the procedures and if I follow those, that's going to make the difference. I can't play favorites... Board of Equalization and Review - May 8, 1995 Mayor Chmiel: Okay, is there anyone else? John Lund: My name is John Lund. I live at 8140 Dakota Lane and in October of '93 I moved into my home. Since that time, in 1994 my taxable value was $149,700.00. In 1995 the taxable value went to $164,700.00 and proposed for 1996 the taxable value will be $181,200.00. This is a 10% year over year over year increase~ My question is, when can I expect this to end? It's getting a little tough to take. Right now 30% of my monthly mortgage payment is going to taxes. I know that's not what this meeting is about. It's about valuation of property. My wife and I are a two income family but we're having a hard time taking a look at this continuing. ...and I can feel for them. As a young family, we have the same problems. I spoke to Ann the other day. I have filed an appeal. Spoke to Ann on Friday on the phone and she had indicated that the last adjustments was at 5 1/2% and either my math is wrong or we need to talk some more because I still can't figure 5 1./2% between '95 and '96. And there have been no improvements to my home since I moved in. Mayor Chmiel: And you filed an appeal? John Lund: That's correct. Mayor Chmiel: Okay. They xvill get back to you and have discussions. Orlin Schafer: Did you buy the home or did you build? John Lund: I bought the home...existing structure xve bought in the end of September, beginning of October of '93. Thank you. Mayor Chmiel: Good, thanks John. Anyone else? If there's no one else. Is there a motion to close and also to table this to May 22nd? Councilman Berquist: I'll move that we close and table it until the 22nd of May. Councilman Mason: Second. Councilman Bentuist moved, Councilman Mason seconded to close the Board of Equalization and Review and to table action until May 22, 1995~ All voted in favor and the motion earried~ Mayor Chmiel: We'll see everybody back here, hopefully not. Maybe you'll come to some resolution with Orlin in regard to what your taxes are basically on right now on your property. So thank you for coming. Those of you who still have those appeals, make sure you turn those in to Orlin before you leave. Submitted by Don Ashworth City Manager Prepared by Nann Opheim