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Hernando Today

Assessing Hernando: Doing More With Less

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Michael D. Bates

Published: February 9, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - BROOKSVILLE - The week that voters overwhelmingly voted to approve Amendment 1, the switchboard at the county's property appraiser's office went wild.

Property Appraiser Alvin Mazourek said his office was receiving a call every two minutes. That's an average 240 calls during the work day.

This week, the call volume is even heavier.

Even walk-in traffic to the appraiser's office at Brooksville City Hall has increased.

What's the reason?

People want to know if the constitutional amendment will affect them in the pocketbook and what they need to do to double their Homestead Exemption.

The answer to the second part is easy: Nothing.

The deduction will automatically be subtracted from their tax bill.

As to cost savings, that varies. The average Florida homeowner is expected to see about $240 more a year. In Hernando County, the average savings should be closer to $170 a year, according to the property appraiser's office.

It's safe to say that Amendment 1, along with the county's recently passed senior citizen exemption program, has brought lots of attention to the property appraiser's office, Mazourek said.

It has also prompted his office to start crunching numbers so county commissioners will know how much less revenue they will have to deal with as they prepare next year's budget.

Mazourek estimates the county will see a 10- to 12-percent reduction in property values for the 2008 tax rolls. That translates to roughly $9 million.

Mazourek admits the picture is not pretty.

Hernando County recorded 1,927 foreclosures in 2007, up 151 percent from the previous year when there were 768 filed cases.

Mazourek said he can't predict when the housing market will rebound. It could take as long as 2010, as Building Director Grant Tolbert is now saying.

That's why he's been warning county commissioners for several months to get ready for the future.

"We told them last year that this was not going to be a continuation, that they wouldn't receive as much revenue," Mazourek said.

It's all about communication

Some people might think Mazourek has a bull's-eye attached to his back.

With the housing market in such a deep mess and people crying over why the value of their homes went up when the real state market tanked, his office has received more attention this past year than what is normal.

But Mazourek said he has been able to deflect much of the criticism by being visible in the community. He and his staffers don't miss an opportunity to appear at community gatherings or public events to explain how the system works.

Once people understand he assesses property in arrears — determining property assessments as of Jan. 1 of each year, based on sales from the prior year — they understand, he said.

He said he must follow strict state formulas for assessing property and has nothing to gain by inflating those values.

That means the downturn in the housing market that occurred in 2007 will be reflected when the new assessments come out later this summer.

That's when commissioners will get sticker shock.

County commissioners have already taken steps to prepare.

They agreed this week to meet Feb. 26 and prioritize future projects, determine possible cost-cutting strategies and streamlining options as they head into the budget sessions.

"I think it's important we start laying that groundwork," said County Commissioner David Russell, who asked that the discussion be placed on that day's agenda.

Appeals cases down

Meanwhile, Mazourek and his staff are dealing with the more immediate concern of getting the information out to homeowners about Amendment 1.

They are still fielding calls from people questioning their assessments.

Of course, homeowners have the recourse of challenging their property assessment to the value adjustment board.

That board is comprised of three county commissioners and two school board members, who hire three special magistrates to determine if the assessment was valid.

In 2005 and 2006, there were 212 challenges to the board. In 2007, there were 254.

Of those 254, 37 assessments were adjusted and 112 were withdrawn before the hearing and without any adjustment, according to Nick Nikkinen, director of special projects with the property appraiser's office.

Nikkinen attributes the low number of challenges to communication between his office and the citizens.

"We're trying to explain to everybody how the process works, and I think that's a good testimony as to how it's supposed to be working," Nikkinen said.

Crunching the numbers

Property appraisers throughout Florida are busy gathering revenue figures these days trying to get their commission boards up to speed on the costs of Amendment 1.

It's fair to say that the property appraiser's office in Citrus County has been propelled into the spotlight because of the housing market, said Les Cook, chief deputy in the Citrus County property appraiser's office.

"We went from being the Maytag repairman to right out on the forefront, with all these rising values," Cook said.

Cook said the property appraiser is not ready yet to release how much money his county stands to lose from Amendment 1 and the loss of property assessments.

"We're still crunching the numbers and hope to get information out before too long," Cook said.

Citrus County recorded 2,086 petitions for appeals to the value adjustment board in 2007, Cook said.

That's more than seven times more than Hernando County.

In 2006, Citrus County had 1,508 petitions to the adjustment board.

However, Citrus County has more homeowners on smaller lots, a larger number of vacant subdivision lots and an overall larger property parcel count.

In Citrus County, the parcel count is 161,000, according to Cook. In Hernando County, there are 127,000 parcels.

Citrus County also has about 30,000 more parcels of property to be assessed. Its population is about 20,000 less than Hernando County.

Broken down in improved residential properties, Citrus County had 147 appeals, compared to 48 for Hernando County.

"We are definitely seeing a lot of inquiries," Cook said.

Pasco County had 2,370 petitions to the value adjustment board in 2007, or about nine times more than Hernando County, according to the Pasco County property appraiser's office.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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