Ada County property tax assessments up an overall average of 5.5% from last year

Editor’s note: This column has been updated to reflect that assessments are up an average of 5.5%. Some increases will be greater, while some will be less than that.

Your property tax assessment notice is scheduled to come in the mail this weekend.

While your assessment in Ada County probably is going to be higher than last year’s, it’s not going to be as high as originally expected.

With sales prices up an average of 10% last year, assessments were headed in that same direction, likely leading to a big surprise for many homeowners — right when notices were arriving amid a devastating economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We said, if you increase values that much, there’s going to be a firestorm in this community,” Ada County Assessor Bob McQuade told me in a phone interview this week. “So what we decided to do this year, because of the uncertainty … is not be as aggressive on our single-family residential assessments, and so we decided to increase the value at about five-and-a-half percent rather than the 10% like (sales prices were) showing.”

As I explained in a column last month, your assessment is based on sales prices of properties in your neighborhood from the past year.

The Ada County Assessor’s Office looked at 12,000-13,000 sales prices in Ada County in 2019, and then applied those sales prices by neighborhood and subdivision to determine individual assessments.

Overall in Ada County, sales prices were up by about 10%, McQuade said. So in general, depending on your neighborhood, you could expect your assessment to go up by about that same amount.

However, because of the economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic, McQuade — along with several other assessors around the state, some county commissioners, business leaders and Seth Grigg, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties — began discussing in the past few weeks the possibility of adjusting assessments.

The decision was made in Ada County to increase assessments of single-family residential properties by an overall average 5.5% to reflect lower values that are likely to be the result of the economic downturn. In addition, McQuade said they’re hoping to preempt at least some of the “thousands and thousands” of appeals that his office is expecting.

The assessor’s office is required statutorily to have assessments come within 10% of actual sales price values, McQuade said. An audit of last year’s results showed assessments were 98% of actual values, he said.

McQuade said that by increasing assessments this year by an overall average of 5.5%, Ada County assessments will still be around 94-95% of actual market value.

Freezing assessments, he said, would likely mean assessments would be out of compliance, dipping below 90% of actual market value, based on sales prices in 2019.

It’s worth noting again that this isn’t your tax bill. Even though taxes are based on a calculation of your assessment, your tax bill will be set over the coming months by city council members, county commissioners and other public agency officials who are setting their budgets.

As I’ve said before, those officials would be wise to cut their budgets for the next fiscal year. As many people struggle to pay the bills, and as we get our economy back on track, it may take awhile, and getting another staggering increase in property taxes is the last thing homeowners are going to want to see this fall.

Your individual home assessment might be off, but for the most part, those assessments are based on an analysis of those 12,000 to 13,000 sales prices and applied to your neighborhood.

So don’t complain to the assessor’s office about higher property taxes. If you want to make sure your property tax bill isn’t also jumping up another 5-10% this year, let your city council member or your county commissioner know.

Having been to dozens of budget hearings over the years, I know they’re usually sparsely attended, and people don’t pay attention until that tax bill shows up in November. Keep in mind that the decisions that affect that tax bill are being made right now and in the next couple of months.

That’s where you’ll need to make your voice heard.

This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 4:00 AM.

Scott McIntosh

Opinion Contributor,

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6202

Scott McIntosh is the Idaho Statesman opinion editor. A graduate of Syracuse University, he joined the Statesman in August 2019. He previously was editor of the Idaho Press and the Argus Observer and was the owner and editor of the Kuna Melba News. He has been honored for his editorials and columns as well as his education, business and local government watchdog reporting by the Idaho Press Club and the National Newspaper Association. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, The Idaho Way. Support my work with a digital subscription