Board of Review

MINUTES 2005 BOARD OF REVIEW ORGANIZAITONAL MEETING Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Council Chambers, Room 203 MEMBERS PRESENT: Rick Laurent, Diane Midthun, John Rasmussen, Jerry Glaeser, Jay Hamann and Thomas Aziere. ABSENT: Marlyce Kaiser. OTHERS PRESENT: Doug Daul, City Clerk/Treasurer; Russ Schwandt, City Assessor, Jerry Prelwitz, Deputy City Assessor; and Carl Arnoldi, Alderman. The organizational meeting of the 2005 Board of Review was brought to order by Acting Chair, Tom Aziere. Doug Daul took the roll call. 1. ELECTION OF CHAIR FOR 2005 BOARD OF REVIEW. Jerry Glaeser nominated Tom Aziere for Chairman of the 2005 Board of Review. Diane Midthun seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. 2. ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR FOR 2005 BOARD OF REVIEW. Jerry Glaeser nominated Jay Hamann for Vice-Chairman of the 2005 Board of Review. Diane Midthun seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. 3. GENERAL DISCUSSION REGARDING PROCEDURE FOR HEARING OF APPEALS. Doug Daul advised that all State Statutes requiring notice and affidavit of publication for this meeting have been met. State law mandates that today’s meeting has to be two hours long. There has to be one State certified member of the Board at each session. We would like to get all members certified. An Affidavit of Completion will be distributed to each Board member at the end of the training session. After they have signed the form, it will be retained by the City Clerk’s Office. Daul said a court reporter has been scheduled to attend the hearing of appeals two weeks from today on Tuesday, June 21, 2005 at 9:00 A.M. John Rasmussen asked if any of last year’s cases were appealed further. Mr. Daul recalled the Dillenburg property. WDOR did an adjustment on three properties last year located on Packerland Drive and Military Avenue. Russ Schwandt said adjustments were made in individual areas. He then distributed to Board members a copy of an article taken from USA Today. The article said that housing prices have increased throughout the nation. Schwandt explained to the Board how the Assessor’s office comes up with the current value of property. Per USA Today, value in Wisconsin went up 8% last year. Certain areas in the City, such as Astor Park, have gone up 16% in value. The assessors are trying to balance out the values in the community. They are always monitoring, getting information from owners and others and making adjustments. Daul asked Schwandt to explain how property is valued. Schwandt said on both east and west side of town, they look at what the homes are selling for. The developers are the ones setting values and the assessors follow along with that. The City assessors constantly go out and make sure our estimates are up to date. John Rasmussen said he has a problem with the comparables we use. It would be helpful if all properties were next door to each other, but that won’t happen; he felt that one can’t compare property on the west side to that on the east side. Schwandt said the next time the City conducts a reval they will do that, but the system has to stay the same as it is now. Aziere said he thought the comparables used last year were pretty good. Mr. Rasmussen said they have to convince people they are getting a fair shake. Schwandt said if they have more comparables, the assessors will look at them. They are restricted to what they have in the system currently. If they have an appraisal and bring it to their attention, they will use it. It makes their job easier if they have good comparables. Daul said when somebody uses amount of sale, we need to know the date of those sales. Schwandt said if there is a trend in a particular area, they make an adjustment for that. Daul introduced Carl Arnoldi, Alderman for the 7th district and thanked him for coming to this meeting. Jerry Glaeser advised that June 21st will be his last meeting. He thanked everyone and recalled when he was both Chair and Vice-Chair, and is glad to see Tom Aziere sitting up there as Chair today. He said he loved everyone. There was no dissention. They became good friends. Daul thanked him for his past services. 4. WDOR BOARD CERTIFICATION TRAINING. Doug Daul then proceeded with the certification training. After training, he presented each Board member with an Affidavit of Completion to sign and return. 5. SCHEDULING OF DATE TO REJOIN TO HEAR APPEALS. John Rasmussen made a motion to adjourn to a date specific which is Tuesday, June 21, 2005 to hear appeals at 9:00 A.M. Motion seconded by Jerry Glaeser. Motion carried unanimously. A motion was made by Tom Aziere and seconded by Jerry Glaeser to adjourn. Motion carried.