Jan 12, 2018 2 min read

First, I would like to say thank God for local newspapers that keep us informed about our local government.

I am writing in regard to the Tuesday story about the problems Observer-Reporter regional editor Mike Jones has had with the new property assessment. I own 1 acre of land next to the 2.5 acres that I live on. The new assessment more than doubled my taxes on the 1 acre plot, so I appealed it until I had exhausted my appeals, and each time they refused to change the assessed value.

On my last appeal, I was told by one of the board members that I should combine the properties, and then it would be cheaper for me. I could not understand how this could happen, since I was told in the mid-1990s that it would be less expensive to keep them separate. The story revealed their method of assessment, whereby the the smaller parcels of land are assessed at a higher rate than the larger parcels, regardless of whether the plot is level or a steep or any other factors that would relate to its actual value.

Would someone who instigated this means of assessment tell me why this is a sensible and fair way to do this?

Ronald Lindley

Eighty Four