Real Estate Appraiser
01-05-2007, 04:59 AM
Appraiser backs grand list work: Rockingham officials say firm is to blame for reappraisal errors
By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN, Reformer Staff
Thursday, January 4
ROCKINGHAM -- The owner of the firm that directed the town's recent reappraisal is standing by his company's work, even as the Vermont Department of Taxes announced that the reappraisal had major flaws. John Ryan, of JF Ryan Associates, said Wednesday that his staff delivered all of the information the town wanted.
Ryan said his company is not responsible for the discrepancies that the tax department uncovered when it did an analysis of the reappraisal.
Municipal Manager John Schempf and Board of Listers Chairwoman Camilla Roberts both lay the blame at Ryan's feet and the town has threatened to involve its lawyer in the dispute.
"I am fully prepared to defend the property values we presented to the town," Ryan said. "We met all of the standards. We did our job. I don't know what transpired since then."
Rockingham spent almost three years and close to $200,000 on the reappraisal that created a new grand list for the town that was supposed to last a few years.
The appraisal company spent about a year visiting every property in town and presenting that data to the town.
But when Rockingham sent the new information to the tax.
department, an analysis showed a wide discrepancy between what properties were listed at and what the actual average selling price was.
Now the state is saying the town must find the problems and fix them.
Ryan said the Vermont Department of Taxes is using a flawed system to come up with its findings
The state uses a three-year average of property sales to come up with its benchmarks. Ryan said he was asked to estimate the property values of homes and businesses in the town on April 1, 2006, and that is what he said he did.
"We were not aware of any state requirements to look at old sales," Ryan said. "I am not sure what the problem is. This problem came out of the blue and it does not makes sense to me."
According to Bill Johnson, director of the tax department's property valuation and review, about 50 towns in the state go through a reappraisal every year and there are usually one or two towns that have to do another reappraisal due to errors in the data.
"There are some issues in Rockingham that need to be addressed," Johnson said.
Towns are allowed to have a variable up to 20 percent, but Rockingham's was about 27 percent.
Johnson said even if Ryan's numbers were used for one year, the town would still be right on the brink of a mandated reappraisal
"Mr. Ryan has a good reputation. He is known nationally and has a lot of experience, but his statements by themselves don't totally address the issues. There appears to be a problem," Johnson said.
The tax department looks at all of the information that towns submit, and if there are issues, towns are required to do new reappraisals.
He said if Rockingham moves forward with its work and shows that it is trying to fix the problems, the tax department can be understanding with the timetable.
But finding exactly where the errors are is not going to be easy.
Rockingham has about 2,300 parcels on its grand list. The listers are working with Jim Boyle, an independent consultant, to try to find the discrepancies.
"They have to figure it out," said Johnson. "It will take some time and money, but the important thing is to get it right."
Property owners have one time a year to grieve their values, Johnson said, and even if a home or business was over- or under-valued, the time to address those issues has passed. He said property owners can grieve the assessed values next year. The tax department can withhold education and other government funds to towns that fail to comply with a mandated reappraisal, but Johnson said the state has never taken that action. Schempf, the town's municipal manger, said the listers know there are serious problems and he said the town is going to do its best to take care of the discrepancies.
Ryan Associates was chosen because it was the low bidder on the project, Schempf said. The town checked the company's references, but Schempf said obviously they made the wrong decision.
"Hindsight is always 20-20 but we should have done more due diligence," he said. "They did a horrible job and we learned a hard lesson."
By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN, Reformer Staff
Thursday, January 4
ROCKINGHAM -- The owner of the firm that directed the town's recent reappraisal is standing by his company's work, even as the Vermont Department of Taxes announced that the reappraisal had major flaws. John Ryan, of JF Ryan Associates, said Wednesday that his staff delivered all of the information the town wanted.
Ryan said his company is not responsible for the discrepancies that the tax department uncovered when it did an analysis of the reappraisal.
Municipal Manager John Schempf and Board of Listers Chairwoman Camilla Roberts both lay the blame at Ryan's feet and the town has threatened to involve its lawyer in the dispute.
"I am fully prepared to defend the property values we presented to the town," Ryan said. "We met all of the standards. We did our job. I don't know what transpired since then."
Rockingham spent almost three years and close to $200,000 on the reappraisal that created a new grand list for the town that was supposed to last a few years.
The appraisal company spent about a year visiting every property in town and presenting that data to the town.
But when Rockingham sent the new information to the tax.
department, an analysis showed a wide discrepancy between what properties were listed at and what the actual average selling price was.
Now the state is saying the town must find the problems and fix them.
Ryan said the Vermont Department of Taxes is using a flawed system to come up with its findings
The state uses a three-year average of property sales to come up with its benchmarks. Ryan said he was asked to estimate the property values of homes and businesses in the town on April 1, 2006, and that is what he said he did.
"We were not aware of any state requirements to look at old sales," Ryan said. "I am not sure what the problem is. This problem came out of the blue and it does not makes sense to me."
According to Bill Johnson, director of the tax department's property valuation and review, about 50 towns in the state go through a reappraisal every year and there are usually one or two towns that have to do another reappraisal due to errors in the data.
"There are some issues in Rockingham that need to be addressed," Johnson said.
Towns are allowed to have a variable up to 20 percent, but Rockingham's was about 27 percent.
Johnson said even if Ryan's numbers were used for one year, the town would still be right on the brink of a mandated reappraisal
"Mr. Ryan has a good reputation. He is known nationally and has a lot of experience, but his statements by themselves don't totally address the issues. There appears to be a problem," Johnson said.
The tax department looks at all of the information that towns submit, and if there are issues, towns are required to do new reappraisals.
He said if Rockingham moves forward with its work and shows that it is trying to fix the problems, the tax department can be understanding with the timetable.
But finding exactly where the errors are is not going to be easy.
Rockingham has about 2,300 parcels on its grand list. The listers are working with Jim Boyle, an independent consultant, to try to find the discrepancies.
"They have to figure it out," said Johnson. "It will take some time and money, but the important thing is to get it right."
Property owners have one time a year to grieve their values, Johnson said, and even if a home or business was over- or under-valued, the time to address those issues has passed. He said property owners can grieve the assessed values next year. The tax department can withhold education and other government funds to towns that fail to comply with a mandated reappraisal, but Johnson said the state has never taken that action. Schempf, the town's municipal manger, said the listers know there are serious problems and he said the town is going to do its best to take care of the discrepancies.
Ryan Associates was chosen because it was the low bidder on the project, Schempf said. The town checked the company's references, but Schempf said obviously they made the wrong decision.
"Hindsight is always 20-20 but we should have done more due diligence," he said. "They did a horrible job and we learned a hard lesson."