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2016-05-02 Regular MeetingKODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH Citizens Board of Equalization Meeting May 2, 2016 A regular meeting of the Kodiak Island Borough Citizens Board of Equalization was held on May 2, 2016, in the Assembly Chambers of the Kodiak Island Borough Building, 710 Mill Bay Road. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Present were Board members Mark Anderson, Paula Laird, Ed Mahoney, and John Parker. Staff members present were Borough Assessor Bill Roberts, Property Assessor Lead Debra Rippey, Borough Clerk Nova Javier, Deputy Clerk Angela MacKenzie, and Assistant Clerk Laurie Pardoe. MAHONEY moved to excuse Board member Carrie Morton who was absent due to personal leave. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NOMINATIONS A. CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD ANDERSON moved to nominate Parker as chairperson. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. B. VICE -CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD LAIRD moved to nominate Anderson as vice -chairperson. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MAHONEY moved to approve the agenda of May 2, 2016. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Special Meeting Minutes of May 11, 2015. LAIRD moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 2, 2016 Page 1 VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Laird declared a possible conflict of interest because she was the listing agent for the Jackson's Mobile Home Park (JMHP) property and mobile homes owned by the park. Chair Parker ruled there was no conflict. ITEMS OF BUSINESS Hearings Scheduled With no objection and with concurrence of everyone present all cases were heard all at once. Due process was given and the order of presentation was followed as required by Kodiak Island Borough Code. Docket #2016-11, Appeal No. 2016-17, Appellant: Judi Kidder Chair Parker reminded everyone that the board was there to discuss valuation of the property and opened the public hearing. Ms. Judi Kidder stated there was a conflict of interest with Ms. Laird serving on the board. The property was advertised by Ms. Laird as a mobile home park with room for expansion and sold. Tenants were told the mobile home park would remain a mobile home park up until April. The tenants did not receive all notices due to JMHP was advised by Ms. Laird's office to stop handing them out. She also stated that Alaska Statutes consider mobile homes to be real property not personal property. The sale of JMHP affected their real property. In 2012 the Uniform Law Commission enacted the Uniform Manufactured Housing Act (UMHA) that Alaska adopted which states "most state laws are outdated because they have not kept pace with the evolution of manufactured housing." "Modern manufactured homes are comparable to traditional cite built homes at the homeowners option should be subject to the law of real property rather than the law of personal property such as automobiles and trailers." "The UMHA gives manufactured homeowners the same legal rights as cite built homeowners including homestead and marital property rights. The UMHA is coordinated with the uniformed commercial code and other uniformed laws. The UMHA provides a uniform regulatory system for the manufactured housing industry clearly defining the rights and obligations of owners, manufactures, dealers, lenders and all states that enact it." She stated that Alaska enacted this in 2012 that is why mobile homes are classified as real property. "There may be disadvantages to real property classification not every purchaser can qualify for a mortgage loan and reclassifying a manufactured home as real property can trigger other expenses such as closing costs and real estate taxes." She stated that they were charged real estate taxes by the Kodiak Island Borough as real property and they have a right to all of the rights that go along with real property including notifications. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 2, 2016 Page 2 Under the UMHA the homeowner must have the legal right to locate the home on the land either because the homeowner also owns the land or because the homeowner has a contract with the land owner such as a lease or common interest community agreement. The UMHA preserves the right and expectations of everyone involved with the property the act specifies that even when a manufactured home is located on land and reclassified as real property title to the home remains separate from title to the land. The Assessor is saying that because of what happened to the land our homes have lost their value. The UMHA guarantees that the land is separate from the mobile home. the act also states that reclassification of a home as real property does not affect manufactures warranties does not affect landlord and tenant rights under a lease if the home is located on leased property and does not subject the property to the law of fixtures. Ms. Kidder goes on to state that her mobile home is ready to move as soon as a property becomes available. She spoke to a permit that was issued was pertinent to one resident at 839 Jackson Lane. The limitations on a mobile home owners operators right to terminate under Alaska State Statues AS 34.03.225 Limitations on mobile home park operator's right to terminate. A change in the use of the land comprising the mobile home park or the portion of it on which the mobile home to be evicted is located. Ms. Judi Kidder stated that the expired permit according to AS 34.03.225 does not affect her home. Mr. Dave Masinter owns a doublewide mobile home with a month-to-month lease just signed Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The change of use and the property and the fact that they did a notice to quite was tied to the old lease. He also spoke to costs associated with the mobile homes being removed at the cost of the owners. Ourania, LLC spoke to the value of his mobile home being valued at zero and just last year it was valued at $25,500 under insurance. He has been looking for a space to move his mobile home but needs more time. He stated there was an increase to space rent. Property Assessor Lead Debra Rippey and Assessor Bill Roberts stated the JMHP was sold recently and at that time, the use was changed from a mobile home part to a residential lot. With the change of use, the owner had to give notice to the mobile home owners that they had to leave which was done prior to January 1, 2016. On January 1, 2016, the Assessing department determined that the mobile homes that were left in the park had little to no value because a knowing buyer and knowing seller. Market value is determined by a willing buyer and willing seller receive in cash or other negotiated proceeds and both are knowledgeable in the market. Just recently, the Assessing department learned that the remaining homes in the park were given an extended lease or new contract but on January 1s1 that wasn't the case. At that point the mobile homes had little to no value to them. It is a matter of the market, if these mobile homes move to another MHP and were set up they would be worth the same if not more than before the sale of JMHP. That is the only reason why these mobile homes were given a zero value. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 2, 2016 Page 3 Ms. Judi Kidder spoke about JMHP charging some residents $5000 for a mobile home and giving away to others. Some singlewide mobile homes are being moved for free or receiving donations to pay for costs of moving them to other locations. The problem now was the lack of land to move the homes to. She reiterated that the mobile homes were fully movable and were separate from the land and could be moved to new locations as soon as there was land available. According to the UMHA the land did not impact the mobile home. There were issues with permits, expired permits, and code violations that impacted the situation. Dave Masinter spoke to the lack of land available. They were waiting on the Borough to dispose of land. Chair Parker clarified tax assessed value vs market value. Ourania, LLC asked how could they pay insurance to move the homes if the value was zero. Assessor Roberts stated that the Assessor did not value them at zero to disenfranchise anyone. They can get insurance on their mobile homes, though getting insurance on mobile homes was getting harder as the homes get older. Land regulations and the fact that the mobile home was attached to that land the mobile home had a lease hold interest, when that lease was canceled it had no interest in that land. At that point, the trailer had to be moved. If there was, no place to move it to no one would buy a mobile home for $30,000 and pay all the costs to move and set up. Chair Parker closed the public hearing. Anderson clarified with the Assessor the mobile homes were classified as real property in the Kodiak Island Borough. He also stated that in his dealings as a banker, mobile homes were always secured with a title or a UCC filing kept for securing personal property. He also stated that for as many people who were upset by not having to pay taxes as having to pay taxes. The real value was what you can get for it. Laird stated that it seemed the Assessing Department was trying to give a tax break to the residents in the JMHP because of their predicament. In the state of Alaska, tax assessed value was not equal to market value and that Alaska was a non -disclosure state. Mahoney spoke to market value vs assessed value. Parker spoke to the deadlines and timeline of the assessor to review properties. He also stated that in the State of Alaska the Assessor had to do parallel things to parallel properties. He further clarified the obligation and penalties associated with not paying your tax assessed value bill and the potential residents of JMHP not able to pay that bill. Anderson cautioned board members against offering tax advice. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 2, 2016 Page 4 MAHONEY moved to recess the meeting for five minutes. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Vice Chair Anderson recessed the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Vice Chair Anderson reconvened the meeting at 8:35 p.m. LAIRD moved to uphold the Assessor's valuation for Appellants Judi Kidder, Docket No. 2016- 11, Appeal No. 2016-017; Dave Masinter, Docket No. 2016-12, Appeal No. 2016-018; and Ourania, LLC, Docket No. 2016-17,Appeal No. 2016-023. ROLL CALL VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: Anderson, Mahoney, Parker, and Laird. Note: Ms. Laird abstained from voting and her abstention was recorded on the prevailing side. MAHONEY moved to postpone the adoption of the findings of fact to a work session on May 4, 2016. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PARKER moved to uphold the Assessor's valuation for Docket Nos. 2016-13, 14, 15, 16, and 18. ROLL CALL VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: Laird, Mahoney, Parker, and Anderson. PARKER moved to postpone the adoption of the findings of fact to a work session on May 4, 2016 for Docket Nos. 2016-13, 14, 15, 16, and 18. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. CONCURRENCE WITH FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: In Favor— Unanimous; Opposed - None. Vice Chair Anderson ended the appeal hearing by stating the following: "According to Appellate Rule 602, the Appellant or the Assessor has the right of appeal to the Superior Court of the State of Alaska from our final decision. Should you wish to exercise your right of appeal, you must do so by notifying the Borough attorney and initiating the process within 30 days from the date of our written decision. Failure to do so will forever bar you from any appeal of this decision." Clerk Javier clarified that the appellants would have 30 days from the date of mailing of the written decision. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 2, 2016 Page 5 GENERAL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS Vice Chair Anderson asked for clarification on the findings of fact and who that should come from. Clerk Javier suggested it could be done by email and reviewed and approved at a special meeting. Vice Chair Anderson announced that the Board of Equalization would certify its actions at a special meeting on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, at 12:15 p.m. in the Borough Assembly Chambers. ADJOURNMENT PARKER moved to adjourn the meeting. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. ATTEST: .'�IIIIIIIII�F// John Parker, Chairperson Approved: Clerk's note: Per KIBC 3.35.050 (E1) The board of equalization summary certification will constitute the board minutes. Per KIBC 3.35.050 (E9) Certification. The board shall certify its actions to the Assessor within seven days following its adjournment. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 2, 2016 Page 6