Ryals clarifies property assessments

I don't take job related insults personally, and I cringe at the thought of responding to a letter in the paper, but I just can't tolerate bad information going uncorrected.

The July 5 edition of the Herald contained a letter from Camilo Lopez in which he complained of ever increasing assessed values in spite of a reported four-year down turn in the real estate market.

Mr. Lopez was also kind enough to opinionate that I believe the public is stupid and alluded that this is all some conspiracy to separate the public from their money.

First of all, I don't think anyone is stupid including Mr. Lopez. Secondly, the local real estate market has not been declining for the last four years and the assessor's office absolutely does not raise value in order to collect more tax. The simple math formula is budget divided by total value equals rate. Higher values produce lower rates, not increased revenue, so that approach wouldn't work even if we wanted it to. Property Values are based on the market less any exemptions that may be in place. Period!

I am unclear as to what prompted Mr. Lopez's letter as he probably received a significant reduction in his tax bill last year and will likely pay less again this year. He must have forgotten that part. In reality, the current system actually does work remarkably well and I would invite anyone who wants to understand it to contact me at 208-267-3301. I would be more than happy to explain how it really works.

David Ryals

Boundary County Assessor