by Murrel Bland
Residential housing values have increased more than 13 percent during 2021, compared to 2020.
That was the message that County Appraiser Matt Willard and his deputy, Janae Robbins, brought to the spring membership meeting of Business West held Friday, March 16, at The Dotte Spot Bar and Grill.
That increase was due to a high demand for single-family housing here and across the country. Nationally, there is a need for more than 4 million new homes.
Willard explained that the annual notice of appraisal and classification went out March 15 as required by Kansas state law which specifies that real property be valued at fair market value. If a property owner believes that his or her property is overvalued, he or she has until April 14 to appeal it. Real estate values are used along with the mill rate to determine the amount of tax charged.
Willard said he and his staff closely monitor real estate sales in determining values. There were about 5,400 residential sales during 2021 in Wyandotte County.
Willard joined the County Appraiser’s office in 2006 after working as a fee appraiser. The Unified Government Commission appointed him county appraiser in 2021 to a four-year term.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is an advisory director of Business West.
I don’t know where they pulled that 13% figure from. The county claimed on my 2022 Annual Notice of Appraisal and Classification that my 54yr old house, with no improvements has a 21% value increase. Of course I filed an appeal. We had a professional appraisal done 2 years ago. At the time it was $50,000 less than what they claim now is $198K. Go figure. They are literally taxing seniors out of their real estate that’s been bought and paid for.