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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM082707 ()\ tQV41h ~ 40N~~ g;;.4.~ o~ \ 6 co rti ~) z \ ' ~~~~J ~ 1820 Jefferson Street P.O. Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 James A. DeLeo William S. Marlow Richard A. Broden MINUTES August 27,2007 William S. Marlow Richard A. Broders James A. DeLeo Chairman Vice-Chairman Member Chairman William S. Marlow called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. in the presence of Vice-Chairman Richard A. Broders. Member James A. DeLeo arrived shortly after the meeting began. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Vice-Chairman Broders moved to approve the minutes of July 16, 2007 as presented. Chairman Marlow seconded the motion. The motion carried. ASSESSMENT CORRECTIONS/PETITION WITHDRAWALS Vice-Chairman Broders moved to accept the following assessment correction and petition withdrawals. Chairman Marlow seconded the motion. The motion carried. APPELLANT Charles & Carol Robinson Fred & Jeanne Martin Karen L. Wagner APPEAL NO. BOE 07-02-R BOE 07-03-R BOE 07-04-R PARCEL NO. 601 343 006 936 904 001 977100711 HEARINGS Howard Gilbert & Pamela Roberts 1334 Leland Valley Road W. Quilcene, W A 98376 BOE: 07-0l-R PN: 802 264 011 Mr. Gilbert and Ms. Roberts were present. Appraiser Dennis Pownall represented the Assessor's office. After explaining the hearing process Chairman Marlow swore in both parties. Under appeal is a manufactured 3-bedroom home situated on approximately 5 acres ofland located at 1334 Leland Valley Road W. in Quilcene. Ms. Roberts read the following prepared statement outlining the reasons why they Phone (360)385-9100 Fax (360)385-9382 jeflbocC@Co.jefferson.wa.us Board of Equalization Minutes - Au~ust 27, 2007 Pa~e:2 feel their property is overvalued: "When the Gilberts called Jack Westerman to discuss the reassessment of their property, he said that they should be happy with the reassessment and that he would love to own their property so he could fish on Lake Leland. As part of this appeal, the Gilbert family contends the following: 1. The County has overvalued the Gilbert house and land. A. Nathan Munn's property. Located two properties north ofthe Gilbert's and of a similar size and configuration, the Munn property was sold for $10,450 an acre near to and before the time of the Gilbert reassessment. The Munn property was on the market for a full year before selling at $1O,450/acre and would therefore be a good indicator at the time of the Gilbert reassessment ofthe full market value per acre of the Gilbert land. B. Lake frontage. The characterized "200 ft. lake frontage" is restricted by the state and in reality results in a 6 foot access to the water for the Gilberts. The remaining footage is overgrown with aquatic rushes, bushes, and trees and provides no recreational access for the Gilberts (but it does provide habitat for birds, fish, etc.) This portion of the property should be valued appropriately for its restricted conditions. C. Forests. There are approximately 3 acres of steep hillside forest west ofthe Gilbert home. The forest hillside is unstable and the soil is saturated year-round as it is integral to the watershed system of Lake Leland. This land has no use for even recreational purposes as the steep and unstable conditions make it inaccessible for human activity, and especially because a major portion of it includes a large canyon whose seasonal stream flows directly into Lake Leland. In good faith and with good silvaculture practices, the Gilberts have hired crews for two years to plant the forest with Western Red Cedar to provide a healthy forest for years to come and to stabilize the conditions on the ground for wildlife. This portion of the property should be valued appropriately for its restricted conditions. In addition to the hillside forest, the Gilberts have planted one additional acre of Western White Pine forest on their combined north and south property line areas. These areas should be designated as unimproved land separate from the improved land around the family home. These areas have had extensive silvaculture practices, including plantings, clearing to decrease canary grass competition, and mulch mats for every tree. The Gilbert's acreage was assessed at $12,000/acre, which is overvalued in comparison to the Nathan Munn sale at $1 0,450/acre. Also, there should be an increase made to the unimproved land category and a decrease to the improved land category on the Gilbert's assessment. D. Lack of county services and road maintenance. A 100 ft. section of the county road leading from Highway 101 to the Gilbert property has not been maintained for year-round access. The culvert is not adequate and the road has sunk to the point where it is now completely flooded during the winter months. This requires a 12-mile detour daily for the Gilberts to get to work and for their daughter to get to school. For the child to get on the local school bus in the winter, Mr. Gilbert has had to carry her through the 2-3 ft. deep water with fishing waders on. In addition, all Federal mail service has been cancelled during winter months to the Gilberts due to lack of access. Board of Equalization Minutes - Au~ust 27, 2007 Pa~e:3 E. County Engineers. The county engineers told the Gilberts that they would probably never fix this 100-foot section ofroad, which is on the south end of Lake Leland. Mr. Ward from the county road department told the Gilberts that ifthey complained about the situation the road would probably be closed. This would permanently restrict the Gilberts in the non- winter months from accessing the 1/4 mile long county road to Highway 101. F. Safety. This 100 foot road situation creates multiple safety problems for the Gilberts: 1. Inability of fire and emergency crews to access the area should there be an emergency or fire in or near the Gilbert's home. 2. Hazards for people who are unaware of the situation and are surprised when they impact the 2-3 ft. deep water while driving their vehicles, especially at night. Warning signs are inconsistently posted - they are often padlocked shut and not checked frequently enough by the county road crews to avoid accidents. In 2006 a driver veered off the road while attempting to drive through the water at night. They could not see where the roadbed was and ended up in the waterway tipped over. This could have been a life-threatening situation. Another driver completely turned his car over and was taken by helicopter to Harborview Hospital for emergency attention. Other drivers attempt to get through the water and their brakes later become inoperable. 3. Possibility of the underground electrical and telephone lines to the Gilbert residence being compromised as the level of floodwater continues to rise each year because of the inadequate culvert on the road. 4. The Leland Valley Road W. 3-mi1e long detour road has been neglected and poorly maintained. The roadway is essentially a one-lane dirt road with inadequate turnouts, which causes multiple hazards, including possible head-on collisions. Many large and unfilled potholes create an unsafe roadway. Culverts are either nonexistent or clogged, causing water to flow directly over the roadway and leading to washouts. And yet this is the only access for the Gilberts and their child (and emergency crews) during the winter months. 2. South Lake Leland outlet is not being maintained. A. The inadequate maintenance of the outlet on south Lake Leland has contributed not only to the road condition stated above, but also to a stagnant lake condition from lack of water flow. This is a county embarrassment caused directly by county inattention. This situation is gradually turning Lake Leland into a toxic turbid swamp. Board of Equalization Minutes - Au~ust 27, 2007 Pa~e:4 B. The shoreline ofthe lake is encroaching on landowner's acreage around the lake. This is happening because the south outlet is not being maintained. This situation has resulted in some homeowners losing their acreage below water year-round. In recent winter months, the Gilbert property is flooded beyond the tree line, which is resulting in tree mortality and potential acreage loss. Weare asking the county to reassess our property value, giving consideration to the paucity and inadequacy of normally expected county services." Currently, the property is assessed at $179,020 ($92,500 for the land and $86,520 for the improvements). The Gilberts estimate the value is $135,370 ($65,750 for the land and $69,620 for the improvements) Dennis Pownall stated the Gilberts paid $183,500 for the property in 2001 which is more than the property value is currently assessed. All the statements made by the Gilberts about the land are true, but, it is nothing new. Nothing has changed since they purchased the property. He is aware of the flooding problem with many ofthe properties surrounding the lake. The only issue though is whether or not the property is worth the current assessment. He cannot imagine the Gilberts selling the property for less than the current assessment. Some land sales were presented for the Board to review in comparison to the Gilbert's property. Mr. Gilbert stated that if their property is going to be reassessed and their taxes increased, then they would expect, at the very least, adequate county services in the area. They get nothing. The area is totally ignored and has been ignored for years. The lake is in bloom with algae all summer. They expect to have roads that are operable. When they have asked for improvements the attitudes of County staff have been very rude. They don't care about that area. He realizes that a lot of the tax money goes to pay for public schools. The public school in that area is also inadequate with many drug and discipline problems. The Gilberts have to spend $7,000 a year to bring their child to the Jefferson Community School to get a proper education. Ms. Roberts noted that the property was on the market for a year and a half before they purchased it. When you look at the reality of what it really means to live there you will see that it is not as easy and pretty a situation as you might think. You have to maintain a mile-long private road which has cost them $16,000 over the last seven years to maintain. There are canyons/culverts every one hundred feet from which water roars into Lake Leland during the winter. If those culverts get clogged then the roadway washes out. The Gilberts have to constantly maintain the situation and keep those culverts clear by digging in the ditch. Their property is in a remote and rural location. It does look nice. But, it requires a lot of maintenance and is a challenge to keep up. She stated that they are not here to complain, they are unusual people that are willing to live in a situation like this, where most people would not. She disagrees with Mr. Pownall that there have been no changes since they purchased the property. The front oftheir property is now under water throughout the winter. There was a brick wall built on a neighboring parcel which is now not visible because it is under water year-round. This neighbor is losing acreage and she believes that situation on their property is going to continue in that same manner and that they are going to lose acreage year-round due to the flooding conditions and the lack of maintenance on the south end of the lake. There has also been a change with an established forest where Canary grass covered about an acre of their property. Since they are foresters and own a tree farm in Clallam County they felt obligated to put it back into the proper condition. They struggled with the Canary grass, but have now established a Pine Board of Equalization Minutes - Au~ust 27, 2007 Pa~e:5 forest in that area. In addition to this change, there have been clear-cuts on both sides of their property which creates problem situations with water runoff. Mr. Pownall reiterated that the appellant's statements are true, but, the issue is whether or not the property is worth the current assessment. He believes it is. Discussion ensued regarding flooding and how property is valued. Hearing no further testimony, Chairman Marlow closed the hearing. The Board will conduct a physical inspection of the property and make a determination at a later date. Charlotte Schweigert 40 Bayshore Drive Port Ludlow, W A 98365 ROE: 07-05-LO PN: 962700117 Ms. Schweigert participated via teleconference. Appraiser John Pray represented the Assessor's office. After explaining the hearing process Chairman Marlow swore in both parties. Under appeal is approximately 4 acres of vacant land identified as tract 52 and located in the Irondale Acre tracts. Ms. Schweigert stated that her property value is based on similar properties on either side of her property. The value was also based on potential timber sale value which took place prior to her purchasing the property in 2007. At the time the appeal was submitted the property was assessed at $50,700 (land only). Ms. Schweigert estimates the land value is $20,000. John Pray presented sales of comparable properties that were used to value this property. He noted that the value was also based on the amount paid by Ms. Schweigert to purchase the property in September 2006. Hearing no further testimony, Chairman Marlow closed the hearing. The Board will conduct a physical inspection ofthe property and make a determination at a later date. Meeting adjourned. Attest: ~~ JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF EQUALIZATION j-' @tIt Richard A. Brod rs, Vice-Chairman j~D~1'M~