Priest Lake landowners prevail in tax dispute

SANDPOINT — Nearly 30 landowners on the east side of Priest Lake have made the case that their parcels were being overvalued by the Bonner County Assessor’s Office.

First District Judge Cynthia C.K. Meyer is ordering county commissioners, who serve as the local tax appeal board, to adjust the assessed value of 29 lots that were auctioned off by the Idaho Department of Lands, according to a 23-page memorandum released on Monday. Meyer’s order requires the county to adopt land valuations developed by appraiser Morse & Associates.

The landowners commissioned the Morse appraisals after unsuccessfully appealing their land valuations for 2016 and 2017. The assessed values increased on average by 48 percent and as high as 91 percent in one instance.

“These valuations were 40 percent or more than the fair market value that had just been established by the state of Idaho when these folks purchased their ground,” said Ford Elsaesser, who along with Katie Elsaesser tried the appeal during a two-day bench trial in October of last year. “Instead, the court found persuasive the appraisals of longtime North Idaho appraiser Ed Morse of Morse & Associates, resulting in a dramatic reduction in appraised values.”

Former Bonner County Assessor Jerry Clemons and Deputy Assessor Bonnie Berscheid objected to Morse’s use of comparable of state lot sales because they were sold by a government entity in an auction.

But Meyer ruled that Morse convinced the court that the comparable sales met the criteria of market value as defined by Idaho law.

“Appellants established by a preponderance of the evidence that the IDL sales of state lots were valid sales for use as comparable sales by Morse,” Meyer said in the order.

Morse’s appraisals saw increases as little as 4 percent and as high as 39 percent. The average increase was approximately 16 percent, according to court documents.

The court also took issue with the county use of hand-drawn meander lines with a plus/minus error of 5 feet to measure the front footage of some of the parcels. Meyer said inconsistency in measurements can result in unfair and unequal assessments.

Testimony at trial established that some waterfront parcels at Priest Lake are valued in the neighborhood of $4,000 per front foot. As a result, a difference of measurement of only a few feet can prove costly to a landowner.

“A measurement discrepancy of only 10 feet could result in an assessed valuation difference of approximately $40,0000,” Meyer noted in the ruling.

Elsaesser is hopeful Assessor Donna Gow, who was elected following Clemons’ retirement, will take the opinion to heart because many Priest Lake waterfront parcels continue to be overvalued by large percentages compared to their true fair market value.

“They’ve kind of a taken a hardball approach that was evident in the decision that we never thought made any sense and it appeared that the judge agreed,” Elsaesser said on Monday.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.