Keeping track of our ‘fair share’

The process of seeing that everyone pays his fair share in Polk County has begun again.

The county commissioners last week hired contractors to “relist and remeasure” every house, every building, down to each porch, deck and garage. All 16,500 parcels and their “improvements” will be photographed and assessed in time to assign updated tax values in January, 2009.

The state requires property revaluations at least once every eight years. Polk County’s last revaluation was in 2001. Of course, additions, modifications, tear downs and new subdivisions are valued for tax purposes whenever they occur. A new building or newly subdivided lot in 2005, however, is assessed at 2001 rates, to be fair.

True market values are rising more quickly in recent years. Polk County Tax Assessor Kathleen Gregory figures the county’s assessed values, which were 100% of true market in 2001, were already down to 68.4% of true market value last year, four years later. That the 1993 revaluation took seven years to fall from 100% to 68% shows the accelerating pace of rising values in Polk County.

Nonetheless, in theory, if all of us were equally assessed in 2001, each of us would still be paying his “fair share” today. The problem is that there are “pockets,” neighborhoods and individual properties, where values have risen relatively more quickly since 2001. More frequent revaluations would keep a closer watch on everyone’s “fair share.”

Any way you slice it, Polk’s revenue is up. New assessed values in 2005 were: construction, $24 million; partially completed construction, $12 million; subdivisions, $71 million. Total increased tax billing: $731,000 (over half of that from Bright’s Creek.) The county took no tax increase in its budget this year. Available fund balance is a healthy 29.8% of the budget, at $5.5 million, and debt, at $27.5 million, is 20% of the total debt limit Polk County is allowed by the Local Government Commission. – JB