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2020-05-18 Regular MeetingKODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH Board of Equalization Meeting May 18, 2020 A meeting of the Kodiak Island Borough Citizens Board of Equalization was held on May 18, 2020, in the Borough Chambers of the Kodiak Island Borough Building, 710 Mill Bay Road. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. Present were Mark Anderson, Bryan Ferris, Paula Laird, John Parker, and Grant Shields. Staff members present were Borough Assessor, Seema Garoutte, Lead Property Appraiser, Debra Rippey, Borough Clerk Tara Welinsky, and Deputy Clerk Alise Rice. PARKER moved to excuse Board member Mahoney who was absent due to personal leave. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NOMINATIONS A. CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD PARKER moved to nominate Mark Anderson as chairperson. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. B. VICE -CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD PARKER moved to nominate Bryan Ferris as vice -chairperson. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF AGENDA LAIRD moved to approve the agenda. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Special meeting minutes of May 16, 2019. FERRIS moved to approve the minutes as submitted. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ITEMS OF BUSINESS Clerk read the following aloud: The granting of any appeal or part thereof shall require the concurring vote of at least three board members. Any appeal or part thereof which is not granted by the board shall be considered denied. • The burden of proof rests with the appellant, who must convince the board by clear and convincing evidence that the assessment was unequal, excessive, improper, or undervalued Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 18, 2020 Page 1 based on the facts stated in a written appeal or proven at the appeal hearing in accordance with the Borough ordinances. • If the valuation is found to be too low, the board may raise the assessment. • Evidence shall only be presented by the appellant and the assessor or their authorized representative. The board shall not be restricted by the formal rules of evidence; however, the chairperson may exclude evidence irrelevant to the issues appealed. • The board of equalization may, in its discretion, decline to accept documents offered at the hearing which should have been provided by May 1, 2020. In exercising this discretion, the board shall consider the relevance and probative value of the documents which are under consideration, accepting those documents which in all fairness are necessary to a fair resolution of the appeal. Prior to the board meeting, the appellant and assessor may agree to an extension of time for the production of evidence. Appeal No. 2020-066, Appellant: Jane Petrich APPELLANT'S PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE AND ORAL ARGUMENT OATH administrated to Appellant, Ms. Jane Petrich. Ms. Petrich provided oral testimony for her report. Ms. Petrich stated that she purchased her land in 1988 and built a new home on that property in 2011 Ms. Petrich stated that she did not request the assessor to investigate the square footage of her lot as reported in a memo to the assessor. Ms. Petrich stated that it was unfair that business and residential properties were assessed the same in Larsen Bay. She pointed out that the closure of the school caused a negative impact on the value of the residential properties. She also stated that the cannery would be closed for the summer of 2020. Ms. Petrich stated that the assessor raised business property taxes in Larsen Bay and her property taxes because of her questions. Ms. Petrich maintained that the assessor dismissed the closure of the school for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, stating that it had no impact on the property values and sited eight sales in Larsen Bay since 2018. Ms. Petrich stated that she has lived in the Larsen Bay area since the 1980's and is familiar with the families and homes in that area. Five homes are now vacant as a direct result of the school closure. There are also another 13 houses that are empty year-round for a total of 18 homes vacant. Many other homes have been repossessed by the Alaska Housing Authority. She does not believe this to be a robust real estate market. Ms. Petrich stated that the status of Lot 11 has been in flux since early 2000. In 2011 during the process of planning her new home, she worked with the Borough Community Development Planner, Duane Dvorak. In this process it was found that there was a drawing from a survey filed from a lawsuit between the two property owners to the west of her. It was the only document from that survey that showed how the lot was presumably configured. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 18, 2020 Page 2 Ms. Petrich stated that in the recorded documents filed by the surveyor, plats 2009-13 and 20019-14 did not appear to address the changes to her lot in anyway. There was no legally filed plat addressing the changes. She was reminded of this when the owner of Lot 12 cleared the land between her new home and his lodge in 2013. After discussion with an attorney Ms. Petrich was advised against trying to resolve the issue of the lot line because of the cost of litigation and she did not have a filed plat. She did pay for a survey of the lot but did not file it or record it. The survey is in the packet. Ms. Petrich stated that because of the research from the Borough and advice from the attorney, plats 2009-13 and 2009-14 did not address changes to her lot. The appellant asked how the assessor can legally use algebra to determine the lot size. Ms. Petrich stated that the definition of plat lot and line in Borough Code all refer to land that has been filed for record. This is not the case for Lot 11. A current planner in the Community Development Department stated in a memo in the packet, that something was missed during the amended survey plat process. The square footage of Lot 11 was not a part of the record. The appellant asked how the assessor can provide square footage to a lot without all the information that should be included. Ms. Petrich contended the square footage of Lot 11 should be recorded as 65,194 square feet for property valuation purposes. ASSESSOR'S PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE AND ORAL ARGUMENT OATH administrated to Borough Assessor, Seema Garoutte. Borough Assessor, Seema Garoutte, stated that the appellant only disagreed with the value being the same as the business zone in her application. The assessor acknowledged that this was found to be true. The assessor stated that when a property owner asks to have a correction done, the property is opened up to investigation. This investigation includes the size of the property. Ms. Garoutte referred to KIBC 3.35.100: The assessor may correct a manifest clerical error in the assessment roll at any time. Ms. Garoutte stated that in the appellant's zoning permit, the appellant declared that the property was 99,414 square feet. The assessor maintained that the Assessing Department depends on GIS to calculate square footage. The assessor stated that it is not the Assessing Department's responsibility to determine if the plat has been recorded correctly or not. This is the responsibility of the property owner. The assessor upheld that KIB investigated the closure of the Larsen Bay school and found that the school is being used by the community and the closure has no effect on their market. Ms. Garoutte stated that KIB has already seen sales for 2020 in Larsen Bay. The 13 homes that Ms. Petrich referred too are unknown to the Assessing Department because they are not listed for sale. Ms. Garoutte stated that the cannery will be operating under limited conditions with limited staff. It there is a natural disaster at the cannery due to COVID-19, it would be included in the 2021 assessment. APPELLANT'S REBUTTAL Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 18, 2020 Page 3 Ms. Petrich stated that she lives in Larsen Bay and is aware of which homes are and are not vacant. Ms. Petrich stressed there is no value in residential property in Larsen Bay right now and because of that none of the homes are listed for sale. Ms. Petrich stated that there will be no raw fish tax dollars coming into the community this year. Ms. Petrich stated that the lot size is a legal matter and calculating it with algebra and GIS is not proper. Ms. Petrich stated that there is a survey in the packet showing the lot size at 99+ square feet, but it has not been recorded. It was for informational purposes. ASSESSOR'S REBUTTAL Ms. Garoutte confirmed that Ms.Petrich's plat is not recorded. However, Ms. Petrich used that plat as the basis to get her zoning compliance permit to have the additional buildings added to her lot. Ms. Garoutte pointed out that the 99,338 feet was used to put up new buildings and now the appellant is claiming that the lot is only 66,000 square foot. Ms. Garoutte stated that the supplemental amending plat 2009-13 and 2014 do show the court case and override the U.S. Survey 4872. BOARD DISCUSSION SHIELDS moved to defer the decision no longer than 30 days. SHIELDS withdrew his motion to defer the decision no longer than 30 days. LAIRD moved to uphold the assessor's valuation on Case No. 2020-066. CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON REQUESTED VICE CHAIR FERRIS TO TEMPORARILY CONDUCT THE MEETING. ROLL CALL VOTE ON MOTION TO UPHOLD THE ASSESSOR'S VALUATION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: Ferris, Laird, Parker, Shields, and Anderson. VICE CHAIRPERSON FERRIS TURNED OVER THE MEETING TO CHAIR ANDERSON. DECISION FOR CASE NO. 2020-066, PROPERTY ID # 20127 FINDINGS OF FACT: 1. The appellant failed to provide adequate evidence to support unequal, excessive, or unfair valuation. 2. The appellant failed to provide specific proof that the closing of the cannery and the closing of the school had a negative economic impact for this period. 3. The assessor was able to confirm to us that the residential properties in the neighborhood were all assessed fairly. 4. The appellant presented arguments disputing the lot size and various plat documents which failed to provide clarity to the Board. The BOE determined it is not the role of the BOE to determine if the plat is correct or resolve disputes about the legal size of the lot. Kodiak Island Borough Board of Equalization Minutes May 18, 2020 Page 4 CONCURRENCE WITH FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS OF LAW BY ROLL CALL VOTE CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: Laird, Parker, Shields, Anderson, and Ferris. Chairperson Anderson read the following statement: 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. GENERAL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS The board agreed to a Special Meeting on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., to certify their actions to the Assessor. ADJOURNMENT LAIRD moved to adjourn the meeting. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 6:36 p.m. ATTEST: �171X,4 ZZZ::�K Ar elinsky, orough Clerk Mark Anderson, 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 18, 2020 Page 5