Todd Winkel was spot on when he stated in a July 27 Letter to the Editor, “After watching the Board of Equalization (BOE) meeting July 20, it was apparent there is no way to successfully appeal your property assessment.” The board listened to the evidence and spoke of the appellant meeting the threshold of a preponderance of evidence then members were chided by Mayor Olerud to not go with a certified appraised value. Debra Schnabel argued that she felt it would be “disastrous” to give weight to certified appraisals.
Certified appraisals are prepared by trained professionals who analyze the specifics of the property and the market to establish true market values. The BOE is a quasi-judicial process where the members serve as judge and are required to listen to the case, decide based on facts, and follow due process. BOE members must be fair and impartial. Borough administration must not pressure or unduly influence board members to deny applicants’ appeals. Failure to give due weight to evidence provided by appellants is unfair to taxpayers and undermines public confidence in fair taxation.
Schnabel doubled down on her unwillingness to provide due consideration to BOE evidence in her Aug. 3 Letter to the Editor. She prefers “uniformity” instead of weighing evidence and seeking truth to determine “the full and true value…that the property would bring in an open market” AS 29.45.110.
What would be “disastrous” is if the BOE is unwilling to be fair, impartial, and consider facts.
Brenda Josephson