E Receive Comments from the Public Concerning Property Valuations
CITY OF
CHANHASSEN
7700 Market Boulevard
PO Box 147
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Administration
Phone: 952.227.1100
Fax: 952.227.1110
Building Inspections
Phone: 952.227.1180
Fax: 952.227.1190
Engineering
Phone: 952.227.1160
Fax: 952.227.1170
Finance
Phone: 952.227.1140
Fax: 952.227.1110
Park & Recreation
Phone: 952.227.1120
Fax: 952.227.1110
Recreation Center
2310 Coulter Boulevard
Phone: 952.227.1400
Fax: 952.227.1404
Planning &
Natural Resources
Phone: 952.227.1130
Fax: 952.227.1110
Public Works
1591 Park Road
Phone: 952.227.1300
Fax: 952.227.1310
Senior Center
Phone: 952.227.1125
Fax: 952.227.1110
Web Site
www.ci.chanhassen.mn.us
E
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Todd Gerhardt, City Manager
FROM:
Justin Miller, Assistant City ManagerJ".I'^
April 12, 2006 fJ'l-W'
DATE:
RE:
2006 Board of Review
Each year the City Council sits as the local Board of Review and Equalization.
Attached you willfind the duties and descriptions of a local Board of Review.
On Monday night, residents will have the opportunity to provide either written or
oral objections concerning their property valuation or classification. In the past,
the Board of Review has listened to the individual comments and directed the
County Assessor to contact each property owner to set .up a time to review their
request. However, if there are only a few residents present on Monday night, and
the assessor feels confident in their valuation or is agreeable to a change, final
action can be taken at this meeting.
If further discussions need to occur between the assessor and property owner,
staff recommends that the Board of Review make a motion to continue the
hearing to May 8th at 6:00, and that the County Assessor provides a written
recommendation for each objection that could not be acted upon at tonight's
meeting.
Please remember that beginning this year, at least one councilmember who
received the Board of Review training must be present. Members of the
Chanhassen City Council who received the training are Councilmembers Bethany
Tjomhom and Craig Peterson.
The City of Chanhassen . A growing community with clean lakes, quality schools, a charming downtown, thriving businesses, winding trails, and beautiful parks. A great place to live, work, and play.
Minn. Stat. ~~ 469.310 to 469.320.
Go to DEED for the most up-to-
date information of Minnesota's
JOB zones.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(a).
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. 2.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. 3.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(a),
(e).
HANDBOOK FOR MINNESOTA CITIES
Under 2003 legislation, the commissioner of the Dept. of Employment and
Economic Development (DEED) can designate up to 10 "job opportunity
zones" (JOBZ) in areas outside the seven-county metropolitan area that meet
specified economically-distressed criteria. These zones provide property tax
breaks to businesses to encourage job growth and business investment.
Contact DEED at (651) 297-1291 for information on Minnesota's JOBZ
zones.
K. Equalization procedures
Once the assessors have completed their work, the city, county, and state
levels of government review and modify the assessments with limitations.
During this review, two kinds of corrections are possible: the governing body
may check the assessor's lists for accuracy, hear individual complaints and
make any necessary adjustments; and, the governing body may equalize the
ratio of market to assessed market values. The first function is the sole
concern of the city board of review, while the county and state boards devote
more time to the latter task.
When the entire procedure is complete, the county auditor puts the valuations
in the records to use when making up the tax rate figures. Only when all three
levels of government have reviewed and equalized the assessments, do they
become the official assessed values.
1. City board of review
The city council serves as the board of review in cities unless the power is
delegated to a special board of review or to the county, as described below.
The city council may appoint a special board of review. It may delegate to the
board all of the powers and duties the council would have if it acted as the
board of review. The members of the special board of review serve at the
direction and discretion of the council. The council determines the number of
members, the compensation and expense payments, and the term of office. At
least one member of the board must be an appraiser, realtor or familiar with
property valuations in the assessment district.
Instead of performing the duties of a board of review itself or delegating it to
a special board of review, any city council of a city for which the county does
the assessing, may transfer its local board of review or equalization power and
duties to the county board.
The board of review meets in the city clerk's office. The city assessor and the
county assessor must attend this meeting with their assessment books and
papers. These officials may take part in the proceedings, but may not vote.
21-9
This chapter last revised 1112/2005
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(a). The meeting date ofthe board of review must be between April 1 and May
31, and is fixed by the county assessor on or before Feb. 15 of each year by
giving written notice to the city clerk. After receiving the notice, the clerk
must give published and posted notice of the meeting at least 10 days before
the date of the meeting.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(g). A majority of the members may take action at the board of review meeting,
and may adjourn the meeting from day to day for a period of 20 days until
they complete their work. After 20 days, the board has no authority and any
action it takes is invalid unless the commissioner of revenue has granted an
extension.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(b). In fulfilling its role, the board of review has three main functions:
. It must review the assessor's list, making sure all taxable property in the
city has been properly placed on the list.
. It must review the assessor's valuations, striving to standardize the ratio
between market value and adjusted market value for each individual piece
of property. To accomplish this, the board may raise or lower valuations
on individual properties, but it cannot increase valuations without
notifying the property owner and giving that person an opportunity to be
heard.
. The board must hear and settle the complaints of individual property
owners regarding the valuations on their property.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(d). A local board does not have authority to grant an exemption or to order
property removed from the tax rolls.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. 1 (f). If a person fails to appear in person or through counselor written
communication before the board of review after receiving notice of intent to
raise the assessment, or if a person fails to apply for a review of the
assessment, that person may not appear before the county board of
equalization for a review of the assessment. An exception is when the
assessment takes place after the meeting of the board of review, or when
aggrieved individuals can establish that they did not receive notice at least
five days before the local board of review meeting.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(c). The local board of review may not reduce the total or aggregate amount of the
county assessor's assessment by more than one percent. This means the board
must often compensate for reductions in assessed values by making
comparable increases in assessments against other parcels of property.
Minn. Stat. ~ 274.01, subd. l(g). All complaints about an assessment or classification made after the meeting of
the board must be heard and determined by the county board of equalization.
21-10 HANDBOOK FOR MINNESOTA CITIES
This chapter last revised 1112/2005