Legislators hear property assessment discontent
Posted on Saturday, October 11, 2008
ROGERS — A small group of Benton County property owners on Friday asked state legislators to revamp Arkansas’ property tax system.
Chris Glass, a Benton County Quorum Court member, and rural resident Jeff Wyant spelled out their concerns to state Rep. Donna Hutchinson, R-Bella Vista, and Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette.
Also attending were four Benton County Republicans who virtually are assured of being elected Nov. 4 because they face no opponent.
They were senate candidate Cecile Bledsoe, representative candidates Mary Lou Slinkard, Duncan Baird and Tim Summers, a Benton County Quorum Court member.
“We can try when we get to Little Rock to do some fixing,” Hendren said. “But I can tell you they aren’t that serious about this in Little Rock. The schools have a powerful lobby.”
Glass told Hendren and the others that there are “inherent flaws” in the property tax system that caused Benton County’s property values to increase during a countywide reappraisal completed this year.
Among Glass’s and Wyant’s complaints are that Assessor Bill Moutray’s office assigned far different values to similar properties and that the county failed to take into account such things as terrain and easements when determining value. The struggling economy and difficulty of selling houses in Northwest Arkansas should have led to lower property values, they said.
“To see an increase in anybody’s property value, you must have your head in the sand,” Wyant said of Benton County’s reappraisal.
Moutray, who wasn’t invited to Friday’s meeting, said he’s tired of being criticized for property values going up. He followed state law, he said.
“I’m a Libra,” Moutray said. “I don’t like waves at all.
“ It’s called the assassination of an assessor. That’s going to be my new book.”
The assessor’s office determined the county’s property value increased from $ 2. 9 billion in 2005 to $ 4. 2 billion this year. Countywide reappraisals occur in threeor five-year cycles in Arkansas. Benton, Pulaski, Washington and large counties are on three-year plans.
Schools receive about 80 percent of property tax money.
Although only six people attended Friday’s meeting with the legislators, hundreds of Benton County residents have complained about their assessments.
About 3 percent of the people who own land appealed to the Equalization Board, asking its members to lower their assessments. The board has lowered the value for two-thirds of those people, Moutray said. Those meetings continue through Oct. 31.
If the Legislature won’t change property tax laws, Hendren and Hutchinson suggested one option would be to obtain signatures from enough registered voters to get a petition placed on a statewide ballot. Wyant suggested Proposition 13, approved by California voters in 1978, could be a model for Arkansas. It limits property assessment increases to 2 percent annually.
Glass said the Arkansas Assessment Coordination Department’s guidelines are “too broad” and don’t have enough specifics to limit what an assessor can do in deciding property values.
“Using the appraisal system is much too subjective,” Glass said.
Moutray said the guidelines are fine.
“All these wannabe assessors and wannabe appraisers can have this job,” said Moutray, who’s unopposed in the Nov. 4 election. “It’s a great job. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know what I’m doing.”
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