Public Hearing Set for Assessment Policy Overhaul

(KNSI) — St. Cloud will hold a public hearing on November 6th to get the community’s two cents on a complete overhaul of the city’s assessment policy.

The proposal calls for hiring an independent appraiser to look at the entire scope and give a range of estimated property value increases. This would be used to send owners a bill that’s less than the projected increase in value. Officials hope it will be a fairer way to charge neighboring properties for major road and infrastructure projects.

St. Cloud Public Services Director Tracy Hodel explained to KNSI News they’re exploring a possible change because “The construction market changes quite a bit, and the market value changes quite a bit. So we want to be able to have a policy that can and move and adapt to as all those conditions change.”

For instance, sewer projects add more value to a business than a parking lot, and Hodel says there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s a complicated issue, and they’re putting all the pieces together to develop a fair assessment based on property values. “You definitely need to look at that market value increase. And then you want to look at your methodology, and you want to see is this formula that we’re using approximate the increase in benefit to the property that has those improvements associated with it.”

Landowners may also be assessed for smaller resurfacing projects, which are currently 100% paid for using property taxes.

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