Lincoln man builds free website to help people protest property valuations

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Property valuations for Lancaster County are finalized – and protests are due by the end of June.

One Lincoln man decided to help others gather the information they would need to protest their valuations.

Gordon Smith said he and his wife received an estimate on what their property was valued at earlier in 2023.

But when they got the final assessment, it was double that number.

Immediately, he wanted to find a way to protest the evaluation.

“The thing that always annoys me when I see these is the assessors going, ‘Here’s the assessment, here’s what we’ve picked for you. If you don’t like that, come to us with better data. But by the way, we have the better data, and you’ve got to figure out how to find it,'” Smith said.

He was frustrated because it was difficult to find the information he needed on the assessors’ website.

“I finally just said, ‘I give up, I’m going to make it,'” Smith said.

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

So he began to compile public records for as many properties as he could, mainly focusing on homes.

And then he used his skills as a software developer, creating a website for people to search their own property.

The site will take into account the type of home you have and find homes nearby with similar characteristics.

It will compare the recent sale prices to your property valuation.

If you want to protest your assessment, you have to then take the information to the county clerk.

“To be successful, the more information you can have, the better you can make your case,” County Assessor Dan Nolte said. “Our goal in the assessor’s office is to value property as close to market value as we can get. If there’s something we’ve missed, by all means, bring it to the referee’s attention.”

Smith said he compared this year’s countywide valuations to previous years.

He found that the total increase in property value for the county in the previous five years was between $1.2 and $2.7 billion every year.

But in 2023, the properties he collected data on increased in value by nearly $7 billion total.

The county clerk’s office did confirm that it’s seeing a higher number of valuation protests this year but said it fluctuates yearly based on the types of properties that are assessed.

Smith said originally, he was just collecting the data for himself and a couple of friends, but he decided to put it on a website for everyone to use for free.

“There’s definitely a lot of people trying it all of a sudden,” he said. “I’m glad it’s still standing and it hasn’t fallen over yet. I don’t think it will. We’ll find out.”