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21 <br /> 1 owners could file an appeal of their new assessed value and offered to schedule appeal <br /> 2 workshops in communities. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 The County also contracted with a vendor to conduct a countywide vertical equity analysis. <br /> 5 Vertical equity means that properties should be assessed at the same proportion of their fair <br /> 6 market value, regardless of the property's value, to ensure that lower-priced properties and <br /> 7 higher-priced properties exhibit the same ratio of assessed value to actual sale prices. <br /> 8 <br /> 9 The Tax Administration Office is also conducting neighborhood level equity analysis to determine <br /> 10 if inequities or other anomalies exist in assessed values at the neighborhood level. <br /> 11 <br /> 12 This report provides a status update on appeals, the results of the countywide and neighborhood <br /> 13 level equity analysis, and the Tax Assessment Work Group the County Manager recommended <br /> 14 in June. <br /> 15 <br /> 16 Appeal Status <br /> 17 The Tax Office received a total of 3,348 informal appeals during the informal appeal window that <br /> 18 was open from March 21 to April 30, 2025. Following the informal appeal window, the Tax Office <br /> 19 received an additional 908 formal appeals for a total of 4,256 appeals. Of those, there are 3,909 <br /> 20 unique properties, with the overlap representing properties that were appealed at both informal <br /> 21 and formal levels. Of the 908 formal apeals, 35 were not submitted by the deadline and will not <br /> 22 be considered. Additional appeals will be received as property owners have 30 days to appeal <br /> 23 decisions, and the last mailing of decision notices on informal appeals is expected to be at the <br /> 24 end of August. <br /> 25 <br /> 26 Of the 3,909 unique properties appealed, a total of 3,637 were appeals of residential property, <br /> 27 and 272 were appeals of nonresidential property. The Tax Office and the Board of Equalization <br /> 28 and Review have issued decisions on 3,094 residential appeals and 173 nonresidental appeals. <br /> 29 Value adjustments made on residential appeals had a median decrease of $25,990 in value, or <br /> 30 about 6%, while value adjustments on nonresidential properties had a median decrease of <br /> 31 $288,700, or about 13%. <br /> 32 <br /> 33 The 944 remaining appeals, along with additional appeals of informal decisions, are scheduled to <br /> 34 be completed by mid-December 2025. The Board of Equalization and Review approved post- <br /> 35 adjournment meetings through December 11, 2025. <br /> 36 <br /> 37 Countywide and Neighborhood Equity Analyses <br /> 38 As stated above, the County contracted with a vendor to conduct a vertical equity analysis of <br /> 39 countywide values. The analysis stratified properties by age, value, and geographic location. <br /> 40 Graphs of the results are attached. That analysis showed that, in general, values were within the <br /> 41 standards for vertical equity established by the International Association of Assessing Officers <br /> 42 (IAAO) when outliers were removed from the analysis. The vendor removed any property where <br /> 43 the assessed value deviated from the actual sale price by 25% or more which accounted for <br /> 44 approximately 950 of 5,800 sales. <br /> 45 <br /> 46 The Tax Office independently conducted an equity analysis on the County's 1,026 assessment <br /> 47 neighborhoods. The IAAO specifies that measures of vertical equity are only representative of <br /> 48 possible inequities in neighborhoods with five (5) or more sales. Of the neighborhoods with more <br /> 49 than five (5) sales, the Tax Office identified 86 neighborhoods that were outside of the equity <br /> 5o standards used by the IAAO. Of the neighborhoods with less than five (5) sales, the Tax Office <br />