After big hike in Lancaster County valuations, about 11% of protests are approved

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Lancaster County Board of Equalization voted this week on changes to some home valuations.

In January, the county assessor’s office released preliminary valuations of everyone’s property, which ultimately determines how much they’ll pay in property taxes.

At the time, County Assessor Dan Nolte said these assessments mirrored what happened in the local real estate market, with many going up significantly.

SEE ALSO: Big increases in Lancaster County valuations are in line with the market, expert says

From there, anyone who thought their property was valued incorrectly could file a protest with his office.

On Tuesday, the board voted to lower 505 valuations, out of 4,440 protests filed.

That’s about an 11% approval rate and a reduction of $51 million in the county’s total valuation.

“Is that a large number?” Nolte said. “Given the number of increases … I don’t think it was anything out of what we would expect.”

Nolte said the assessment comes out to about $39.5 billion for all of Lancaster County.

SEE ALSO: Gov. Jim Pillen forms group to examine Nebraska property valuations

Nolte said if your protest wasn’t approved, you can still appeal to the Nebraska Tax Equalization & Review Commission.

For a fee, it will review your appeal and hold a hearing.

“They can say, ‘We agree with you 100%; we’ll give you what you’re proposing,’ or say, ‘You don’t have validity to what you’re trying to do’ or somewhere in between,” he said.

The deadline to file an appeal with the commission is Sept. 11.

If you’re still not satisfied after that, you’ll have to go to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.

Nolte said he doesn’t yet know when the county will be assessed again but doesn’t see valuations going down.

“Values don’t decline very often,” he said. “They did back in 2008, 2009, back in there when we had that recession. But generally, it’s not a huge decline, and it’s not long term.”