Research conducted by the Kansas Policy Institute (KPI), the owner of The Sentinel, shows that nearly 9 out of 10 decisions on property tax appeals decided by the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA) since 2019 were found either partially or fully in the taxpayers’ favor.
This discovery runs counter to the familiar refrain from the political establishment to taxpayers that “property appraisals are correct.”
The following tables illustrate the resolution of more than 6,000 BOTA appeals heard in the last six years.
In his column for KPI, its CEO Dave Trabert explained the “Stipulated” result in the table, as the burden of proof is often on the taxpayer to show the appraisal was in error:
“Stipulated” often means the county was playing a game of chicken with the taxpayer. Counties have no meaningful out-of-pocket costs for a case going to BOTA, but taxpayers often spend thousands on attorneys and private appraisals to prepare their case. Taxpayers tell us that counties reject local appeals and allow cases to proceed to BOTA, forcing taxpayers to spend more money preparing for trial. At the last minute, counties offer to settle because they know they will at least be partially overruled by BOTA.”
In three out of four cases studied, it appears that counties opted to go the BOTA route in hopes of forcing the taxpayer to “throw in the towel” and accept an appraisal they didn’t agree with, to save on legal expenses, travel, and other inconveniences.
Further research by KPI indicated those conducting the appraisals in Johnson and Sedgwick Counties, interestingly, with the worst records in BOTA cases, also have appraisers who wouldn’t be qualified to appraise property for a mortgage application. Trabert explained:
“Their county appraisers aren’t Certified Residential Real Property Appraisers, meaning they are not licensed to appraise one- to four-unit residential properties, regardless of value or complexity. A licensed residential appraiser can appraise one-to-four (non-complex) residential units with a transactional value less than $1 million, and one-to-four (complex) residential units with a transactional value less than $400,000. They are also not Certified General Real Property Appraisers who can appraise individual commercial properties.
“Johnson County Appraiser Carolyn Logan is a Registered Mass Appraiser (RMA). Sedgwick County Appraiser Deanna Aspedon is also an RMA; her AAS (Assessment Administration Specialist) designation deals with property tax administration. An RMA is qualified to perform computer-generated mass appraisals, but not to appraise individual residential or commercial properties.
“In other words, Johnson County and Sedgwick County (and, for that matter, most Kansas counties) hire appraisers to value your property who aren’t qualified to appraise your property for your bank.” Johnson County Commissioners are proposing another $20 million property tax increase for next year.
According to the Kansas County Appraisers Association, only the Douglas County Appraiser has the MAI certification as a Certified General Real Property Appraiser.
