Fillmore County Assessor Jason McCaslin presented a detailed review of 2021 assessment changes before the county commissioners at the March 9 board meeting.
McCaslin explained his office is required to maintain the Median Sales Ratio between 90-105% in jurisdictions with six or more sales. If a jurisdiction is found to be out of compliance by the State Board of Equalization, changes will be ordered to bring the jurisdiction into compliance. This happened in the 2020 assessment for Preston and Lanesboro. The end point of equalization is to ensure everyone pays their fair share of the property tax burden based on Minnesota Statute; no more, no less.
McCaslin went through different classifications and different jurisdictions. Each appraiser in Fillmore County averages 4,800 parcels. McCaslin maintained we will see a significant change in assessments in the county over the next couple of years; 2023-2024. It requires a lot of research and getting parcels reappraised will take time.
McCaslin said we are walking into a storm; we are working very hard to fix things. Some will be made uncomfortable as we come into compliance. All need to share fairly in the property tax burden. The only way to fix things is to view properties. Some taxpayers have been upset and some will be upset.
McCaslin discussed appraisals in several townships. Canton Township will see a 7% increase in the house base rate and Spring Valley Township a 45% increase in house base rate and a 5% reduction in land values.
Value adjustments upwards will be made in the cities of Fountain, Harmony, Lanesboro, Preston, Rushford, Spring Valley, and Chatfield. Mabel will experience a slight reduction.
McCaslin said we have not been getting all the information to value houses appropriately; to do so the appraiser needs to see the interior. For example, some older homes have deteriorated and some have been upgraded.
A lot of work is needed also in the commercial/industrial classifications. Preston’s commercial/industrial have been grossly under valued; a 25% increase has been applied. Spring Valley’s commercial/industrial have been reassessed and values have been reduced 10% in the downtown corridor and 5% in the remainder of the city.
Purchase of CAMA,
tax and cash register
County Administrator Bobbie Hillery, Lori Affeldt, Finance, and McCaslin noted the advantages of replacing the existing antiquated system and software. McCaslin explained how it would allow appraisers to gather information and do data maintenance while on a property. He expects it will improve efficiency by 40%. The cost benefit of this tool is worthwhile.
The quote from Tyler’s Appraisal and Tax Solutions for the county is costly. The total one time implementation cost is about $319,000. Annual maintenance and support is $84,580. Travel expenses for implementation will be billed as incurred.
Hillery explained the county pays annual maintenance close to this amount for its current system, so annual costs are basically covered. Two funds have been built up to update the system with a total of about $420,000. McCaslin said quite a few counties are considering this technology. Tyler Tax and CAMA are all in one package. Affeldt said this option (cash register piece) will make it seamless between the auditor/treasurer, finance, and assessor.
Hillery maintained the county has been needing this for a long time; it will provide efficiencies for the staff when retrieving data. McCaslin said he was pretty confident that this is the best option.
The board unanimously approved the purchase of Tyler Appraisal and Tax Solutions as presented.
Other business in brief
• The installation of a security system through Marco in the Fillmore County office building was approved at a total cost of $52,927.14. This security system will be tied in with courthouse security.
• An update on COVID business relief grants was given. There were $1.86 million in total requests for the grant money. Unfortunately, the total grant money available was only $415,000. Sixty-four businesses will receive a check from these grant funds from the State of Minnesota. The checks will likely be sent out late this week.
• Blake Lea, Feedlot, reviewed the County Feedlot Officer annual report and Year-end Review. Forty-two feedlots were inspected. The reports were approved.
• Grant Wilson, the new Minnesota DNR regional director, introduced himself and reviewed the various divisions of the DNR and area contacts. The DNR manages 18,425 acres in Fillmore County, or 3.3% of the total land in the county.
• The Holidays policy was approved with changes.
• Two intermittent deputies were hired to start in mid-March, Brooke Johnson and Matthew Cox.
• A request to advertise for a replacement eligibility worker was approved.
• The resignation of Katelyn Sullivan, social worker, was approved effective March 5. A request to advertise for a replacement social worker was approved.