Drones not being used to assess properties

SANDPOINT — Drones will never be used in the Bonner County Assessor’s Office for as long as Dennis Engelhardt is around, the assessor told Bonner County commissioners Tuesday.

The discussion about whether the county was using drones to assess residents’ properties was placed on the agenda by Commissioner Asia Williams after she said multiple citizens had come to her with concerns about the issue. 

Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson said drones have never been used in the Planning Department and he’s unsure where the miscommunication came from.

“We get our aerial imagery from the Planning Department from pictometry,” he said.

Pictometry is an aerial survey technique that agencies use to produce images showing the fronts and sides of buildings and their locations on the ground.

Despite Wilson’s responses, Williams said she wanted to open the floor to the residents to hear their concerns. County resident Dimitry Borisov said that his neighbor experienced an incident with a drone, and days later, received a fine from the county regarding a remodel he was doing on his house.

“According to eyewitnesses that live on my road, they’re saying there was a drone flying over our properties, and a few days later, one of my neighbors had received a notice from the county,” he said.

However, Engelhardt said that the assessor’s office never has, and never will, use drones if he has a say in it.

“As long as I'm there, there’s not going to be any drones,” he said. “There’s no need for it.”

The assessor said he’s required by law to do continual reappraisals of the properties in the county and gets through about 20% of them every year, finishing the entire county roughly every five years. Residents are sent out a notice of the reappraisal and permission to enter onto the property is requested. Only roughly 50% of residents respond and allow access onto their land, Engelhardt said.

“Obviously, 50% don’t, but that doesn’t relieve us of our statutory responsibility to do market value appraisals of those properties,” he said.

There are multiple ways around the denial of access onto a property, the assessor said. Staff can stand on public property around the land and assess it from a distance, or observe from neighboring private properties that staff have gained permission to be on. Staff can also gather information about the property from other citizens who have been on the property and are willing to talk to the assessor’s office.

“We also have an eagle view, which is a flyover service that the county contracts for,” Engelhardt said. “We don’t need drones. Drones are a big expense and they’re complicated. If we had drones, we’d have to hire people. I’d much rather have a view of your property from 10,000 feet than I would from a 500-foot elevation, buzzing around your house scaring your animals and children.”

Another county resident suggested that maybe a disgruntled neighbor flew the drone in an attempt to get the neighbor in trouble over his remodel, and disclosed that information to the county. While the assessor said it is a possibility, he has not encountered anything of that sort since he has worked for the county.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think I’d be willing to accept that incrimination,” he said.

Commissioner Steve Bradshaw said that according to Idaho Farm Bureau, under state law, no state agency can use an unmanned aircraft to purposely conduct surveillance of or gather information about a targeted property without written consent, aside from emergencies or an instance in which a warrant is issued by a judge.

“That should cure everybody’s fear about the county using drones for any reason, because state law prohibits it,” he said.