Explanation
Most western states are struggling with property taxes, the bane of homeowners everywhere. This story, I think, brought the story home to people who have trouble understanding how the county assesses their taxes.

The property tax pinch

Flawed process is to blame for soaring tax rates, homeowner says

By Arik Hesseldahl
Of The Journal

The trees in Wilma Benintendi's yard stand like silent sentries, always vigilant.

As the retired Idaho State University education professor works in her garden, it becomes apparent that she treats her home at 415 South Sixth Ave. like a sanctuary from the outside world.

But this sanctuary has its price, and in the last four years, it has gone up. In the last year, the combined property taxes that Benintendi pays on her home, and on the house next door which she also owns, have risen by $1,300, based on an assessment formula she says is flawed.

Benintendi's home is on the outskirts of Pocatello's university neighborhood on the corner Benton St. and South Sixth Ave. Her neighbors include a tattoo parlor, a record store and a few houses which are often visited by Pocatello Police.

Along one side of her house is an alleyway she describes as "an interstate" and "a major thoroughfare" for both motor and pedestrian traffic. On a regular basis, Benintendi calls the police to flush out transients who stop for a nap in the alley. She also calls the city to apply dust retardant to the alley as many as three times a year.

Her 1996 property value assessment says her home is worth $76,180, an increase of more than $20,000 from 1995, and nearly double the 1992 assessment of $42,826.

The situation on the second house is no different. Since 1992, the assessment on the land and house has increased in value from $42,363 to $86,935. And in the case of both houses, Benintendi has done nothing in the way of improvements, other than routine maintenance. Her complaint is not with paying taxes, but with the way the county determines the market value of the homes in her neighborhood.

"We are living in an area where a lot of outsiders are coming in and paying astronomical prices for these older homes, improving them, and reselling them. The county came in and sampled the value of the houses which are selling, and that skews the data," she says.

Benintendi describes one situation in which someone bought a former fraternity house on the corner of Seventh Ave. and Benton St. After spending more than $12,000 on remodeling and improvements, the owner resold the house for more than $200,000. Another home nearby that had been trashed by an owner who was later arrested for dealing drugs was later bought by someone who remodeled it and sold for $70,000.

"I think they should be sampling every house in the area. Why should they only sample the houses that are selling?" she said.

Benintendi says she has been taking pictures of the traffic in the alley, of the police cars parked outside homes on her block, and graffiti that has shown up on nearby buildings. She is planning on appealing her assessment to the county Board of Equalization later this month.

Every year Bannock County reassesses the value of 20 percent of the county, which means that every five years the entire county is reassessed. Assessor Diane Bilyeu said the best indicator of property value is the sale of comparable property nearby.

"When we do a closer look there are sometimes some big jumps in value for people," Bilyeu said.

Bilyeu said that between each reappraisal, the county tries to keep up with the market by estimating the value without actually looking at the property, a practice commonly referred to as trending.

"Sometimes trending does not keep up with the market value," she said.

But the assessment is an estimate of what the home owner should expect to get if they were to sell their home, Bilyeu said. She stressed that if someone disagrees with their assessment they should call the assessor's office and have the appraiser visit their home.

Bilyeu also said that many older homes like Benintendi's are increasing in market value because they are the only kind a home a first-time buyer can afford.

But Benintendi isn't so sure that's true in the case of her home, and that's an issue she plans to raise when she meets with the Board of Equalization.

"If a bank appraiser to come in here and look at this house, would I be able to sell this house for $76,000 without having to spend $20,000 on improvements? Win lose or draw this is a flawed process as I see it," she said.

Click here to read what happened to Mrs. Benintendi