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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Appeals and Equalization - 04/20/2006 APPROVED MINUTES CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION MEETING THURSDAY,APRIL 20, 2006 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION MEMBERS: Patricia Pidcock, Chair; Mike Best, Vice Chair; Brian Duoos, Doug Malam and Annette O'Connor CITY STAFF: City Assessor Steve Sinell, Colin Schmidt, Jody Carlson, and Dave Buswell; Assessing Technician Lisa Ramsey, and Recording Secretary Deb Sweeney. I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Pidcock called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Sinell noted meetings of the Board of Appeal and Equalization must be open, so no discussion of the properties should take place outside the meeting. Board members should recuse themselves if they have a conflict of interest regarding any property. II. REVIEW APPEALS A. #1, 7982 ISLAND ROAD Sinell said the home was purchased in May 2005 for $555,000 and originally assessed at$550,300. The owners contend they overpaid for their home. The review assessment compared the home to four others on Mitchell Lake and concluded the home was bought for market price. MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by Malam, to recommend no change in the assessed value of 7982 Island Road. Motion carried 5-0. B. #2, 8931 GARLAND COURT Owner Lyle Hanna contested both his original appraisal of$505,300 and the review appraisal of$510,500. Hanna said his assessment has increased 30% in two years. He contested comparisons used in the review, saying his home has a daylight basement, not a full walkout, and backs up to Twin Lakes crossing which is a busy street. Sinell noted Hanna's home is 1200 sq. feet larger(600 sq. feet on both the main and lower levels) than all but one of the neighboring town homes, so the price was adjusted significantly. After discussion, the Board agreed the lack of a walkout,backing to a collector street, and a neighborhood trend of"not hitting $500,000 yet" merited a decrease. Board of Equalization and Appeals April 20, 2006 Page 2 MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by Best, to reduce the assessment of 8931 Garland Court to $490,000. Motion carried 5-0. C. #3, 17442 GEORGE MORAN DRIVE Owner Aijuan Cai said her original appraisal of$510,000 is too high. It is a 22% jump and no improvements have been made. Review was not yet complete. Cai presented two comparable properties and argued her home is smaller, farther from the lake, needs fixing up to be saleable, and lacks finish. Her estimate of value was $450,000 - $470,000. Sinell said the neighborhood has a wide variety of homes and levels of finish, and the best approach would be to continue the review appraisal and address the matter again at the May 9ffi meeting if no agreement is reached. The owner agreed. MOTION: O'Connor moved, seconded by Best, to continue the appeal for 17442 George Moran Drive to the May 9ffi BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. D. #4, 17274 CEDARCREST DRIVE Owner Michael Dillon said his $746,800 original appraisal is too high. Review was not yet complete. He compared his home to similar neighboring homes 200 sq ft smaller, which sold for$695,000 in 2005 and $692,500 in 2004. He noted both of these homes were also assessed at a higher value than they sold for. Sinell noted the owner paid $725,000 in 2002. Dillon said his home has structural damage and Duoos said that would definitely affect the value. MOTION: Malam moved, seconded by Best, to continue the appeal for 17274 Cedarcrest Drive to the May 9ffi BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. E. #5, 7864 BAILEY DRIVE MOTION: O'Connor moved, seconded by Duoos, to continue the appeal for 7864 Bailey Drive to the May 9ffi BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. F. #6, 6843 DUCK LAKE ROAD MOTION: Best moved, seconded by O'Connor, to continue the appeal for 6843 Duck Lake Road to the May 9ffi BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. G. #7, REALIFE VALLEY VIEW COOP Co-op Board Treasurer Nora Schroeder expressed concerns the review appraisal raised the value from$11,431,700 originally to $12,200,000 now. Duoos Board of Equalization and Appeals April 20, 2006 Page 3 explained no increase is being recommended. Sinell said the property is difficult to value because there are only two cooperatively owned apartment buildings in Eden Prairie, but the assessor used a cost approach, an income approach, and a market value approach, all of which generated a higher value than the original $11 million. Schroeder noted residents are held to 1% equity of the original unit value and are on fixed incomes. A 3% increase would be more reasonable than a 4% increase. Pidcock noted that by law, taxes must represent what the market would bring. The state legislature could act to consider the impact of the equity requirement. MOTION: Best moved, seconded by Duoos, to recommend no change in the assessed value of Realife Valley View Coop. Motion carried 5-0. H. #8, 6997 EDGEBROOK ROAD Owner Floyd Siefferman compared his property to 6408 Sand Ridge, which sold for$490,000 and was assessed at$514,000. Review was not yet complete. He stated his property is older with the original paint and carpet from 1982,plus rotting windows. Lack of flashing also led to collapses in the dining room and the back deck. In addition, the original wooded lot behind the house was subdivided into six lots which overlook his house. This year's increase is 4-5%. Siefferman stated he had a 9% increase last year with no complaint. Malam noted the property had been appealed and given a 10% reduction three years ago based on similar arguments. The Board asked for aerial photos of the area as well as information on the year built to be provided with the review. MOTION: Malam moved, seconded by Duoos, to continue the appeal for 6997 Edgebrook Road to the May 91h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. I. #9, 7846 BAILEY DRIVE Owner Grant Casanova said his 23% increase in the original assessment was too high. Review was not yet complete. Casanova said most homes in his neighborhood sell for around $400,000 and a recent sale of his next-door neighbor's home for$650,000 is not comparable. The increased traffic on T.H. 5 and the increased murkiness of Mitchell Lake have decreased values in the neighborhood overall. MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by Malam, to continue the appeal for 7846 Bailey Drive to the May 9`h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. J. #10, 7993 LISMORE CIRCLE Owner Dipak Shah said the 15% increase in his property value is not in line with the market. His home lacks the upgrades of many of the neighbors and has Board of Equalization and Appeals April 20, 2006 Page 4 maintenance issues. The number of listing is up and houses are staying on the market longer. Review was not yet complete. MOTION: O'Connor moved, seconded by Malam, to continue the appeal for 7993 Lismore Circle to the May 91h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. K. #11, 7828 BAILEY DRIVE Homeowner John Peterson said homes values are declining in his neighborhood, noting the most recent sale only appreciated $7,700 over three years. It is fairly easy to make comparisons since there are only five models in the development. Being on the lake is also not the advantage it once was due to the decline in water quality. During development, being on the lake carried a $60,000 upcharge, but today,homes on the lake are actually selling for less than homes than homes off the lake. Peterson also noted he has limited lake views due to environmental restrictions, whereas many of his grandfathered-in neighbors have grass to the shoreline. Review was not yet complete. He asked his assessment be reduced from$573,400 to $525,000. Duoos commented the Board would probably start seeing more pockets where housing values are not as strong in the next few years. MOTION: O'Connor moved, seconded by Malam, to continue the appeal for 7828 Bailey Drive to the May 9`h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. L. #12, 8562 FRENCH CURVE Homeowner Nancy Lemon said her home should be valued at$735,000 rather than $775,000. Her home is worth less than it was last year due to the construction of the new Highway 212 and Scenic Heights Road, an on ramp, and a trail. Her property is the most affected by the construction. In addition to the noise and visual impacts, their cul de sac has changed to an open road. O'Connor said the project has provided poor information to homeowners, so the uncertainty factor is very damaging. All the foliage has been removed and the height of the berms and noise walls keeps changing. She thought the value might be even lower than $735,000. Best noted during construction is the worst possible time to sell a home. Pidcock and Duoos expressed openness to Lemon's concerns. Sinell pointed out the assessment has been flat for three years, one of just two areas in town that did not have an increase. MOTION: O'Connor moved, seconded by Malam, to continue the appeal for 8562 French Curve to the May 9h'BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. Board of Equalization and Appeals April 20, 2006 Page 5 M. #13, 16460 HILLCREST COURT N. Homeowner John Pollock said his assessment rose from$277,000 to $310,000 on his 25-year-old home. He was seeking an opinion from an independent assessor. Changes in the neighborhood over the years have devalued his home. The high school fields and bubble dome replaced garden plots, and the railroad bed near Duck Lake cut off flow to the pond in his backyard,reducing it to a stinky sludge in the summer. MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by Best, to continue the appeal for 16460 Hillcrest Court N. to the May 91h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. N. #14, 9475 OLYMPIA DRIVE MOTION: Malam moved, seconded by Best, to continue the appeal for 9475 Olympia Drive to the May 9`h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. Mike Best left the meeting for a break. O. #18, 7014 WILLOW CREEK ROAD Homeowner Cory Watkins said current talks with the assessor had reduced his home's assessment from $1.7 million to $1.5 million,but its value is still too high. He characterized his lot as the worst on Bryant Lake, with 16 feet of mucky lake access, unsuitable for swimming as other lots are. The lake view includes radio towers and industrial sites. Watkins said comparison is difficult since lakeshore rarely turns over, but noted one of the other 3 lots in his development sold for $1.2 million with twice the lot size, 240 feet of sandy lake frontage, and a great lake view. An older home (the old Charlie Mitchell place) with the same square footage, a pool, and lake rights sold for$1.2 million. A similar home on Medicine Lake sold for $1.2 million. Watkins said his home was worth about$1.3 to $1.4 million. Pidcock said the home's newness and large size add a lot of value. Duoos noted some of the owner's construction expenses (e.g. well, septic) unfortunately do not add value. MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by O'Connor, to continue the appeal for 7014 Willow Creek Road to the May 9h'BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 4-0. P. #16, 18224 CASCADE DRIVE MOTION: Malam moved, seconded by Duoos, to continue the appeal for 18224 Cascade Drive to the May 9`h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 4-0. Board of Equalization and Appeals April 20, 2006 Page 6 Q. #19, 15519 LILAC DRIVE MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by O'Connor, to continue the appeal for 15519 Lilac Drive to the May 91h BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 4-0. R. #21, 18194 DOVE COURT MOTION: O'Connor moved, seconded by Malam, to continue the appeal for 18194 Dove Court to the May 9"'BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 4-0. S. #22, 9175 FLYING CLOUD CIRCLE MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by O'Connor, to continue the appeal for 9175 Flying Cloud Circle to the May 9h' BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 4-0. T. #2417781 STEADING ROAD MOTION: Malam, seconded by O'Connor, to continue the appeal for 17781 Steading Road to the May 9"'BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 4-0. Best returned to the meeting. U. #28, 12600 PLAZA DRIVE Best asked if this was the property north of Menards. Sinell said it is the Menards property and the attached tenants. MOTION: Malam moved, seconded by Best, to continue the appeal for 12600 Plaza Drive to the May 9"' BAE meeting pending review from the assessor. Motion carried 5-0. III. HEAR OTHER APPEALS No other appeals were presented from the public. IV. SCHEDULE NEXT MEETING MOTION: O'Connor moved, seconded by Best, to schedule the next BAE meeting for May 91h at 7:00 p.m. Motion carried 5-0. Board of Equalization and Appeals April 20, 2006 Page 7 V. CLOSE THE BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION TO FURTHER APPEALS MOTION: Malam moved, seconded by O'Connor, to close the Board of Appeal and Equalization to further appeals. Motion carried 5-0. VI. RECESS THE MEETING MOTION: Duoos moved, seconded by Malam, to recess the Board of Appeal and Equalization until May 9th. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting recessed at 9:20 p.m.