INSET: City Assessor Dana Naumann
MASON CITY – Newly-appointed City Assessor Dana Naumann on Tuesday was given the final go-ahead on a $1 million dollar project to re-appraise all commercial, industrial and residential property in Mason City.
A meeting of the Mason City Conference Board was held Tuesday. The Conference Board is made up of three entities: The entire City Council and Mayor; the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors; and the Mason City School Board. The Conference Board gave Naumann the green light to go ahead and get started on the project, which will take years to complete. Naumann, who was appointed last November, said that no such project has been done in Mason City in at least 20 years.
The project will be funded by new taxes for Mason City property owners under the City Assessor. Naumann said Wednesday that the cost to a $100,000 property owner will be about $11 per year for the next five years. This fall’s property tax bill will show the first increase.
“When I was hired, this was already a project they (the Conference Board) wanted to undertake,” Naumann explained. “It needs to get done, in the interest of fair taxing for property owners. Some are paying too much, some are paying too little.”
Naumann said that she looks at the “aggregate” of property sale amounts in Mason City versus the total assessed value of properties that have sold. The re-appraisal of properties would attempt to bring the sale price of a property even with its assessed value.
A software change will be the first step in the project. All commercial properties should be fully re-appraised by January 1, 2016. All residential properties should be fully re-appraised by January 1, 2018.
“It’s a long project,” Naumann said. “It’s pretty involved.”
Once the project is complete, Naumann explained, the other three taxing entities involved (Council and Mayor; Supervisors and the Mason City School Board) “should have more property value to levy against.” Therefore, they may have an opportunity during budget cycles to lower their own tax rates.
It was said at Tuesday evening’s Mason City Council budget meeting that Mason City property owners are set to see about a $37 per year tax rate increase overall (on a $100,000 property), when adding city property taxes together with the new taxes from the City Assessor to complete this project.
Well, Mr. L Clear lake has been utilizing special assessments for many years and there is a sense of fairness and equity you are proposing to violate by suggesting they be abolished. In the past, each has paid his/her fair share and that should continue. I think the issue should be more that there should be more street resurfacing projects that are done and not assessed for by the City. I do not believe that so many of the streets need to be completely rebuilt. Although I do understand the issue about aged below ground infrastructure.
Your suggestion on property tax assessments is as ill-conceived as your statement from some time ago about a petition and referendum procedure that is also not legal in Iowa. Slow down with some of these thoughts please and in time you may present yourself as a viable candidate.
well mason cityans that voted the school tax in here is an exercise for you 1: bend over and reach between your legs and pull as hard as you can until you hear a pop, now you got your head out of your ass.
Typical marine. Nothing intelligent to offer. Just his normal stupidity.
I seem to remember a Tax incentive offer that the City made for property owners to fix up their properties. That carrot was waived, people did fix things up and now these same people are going to end up paying more in taxes than they were when they bought the place, this is just one big scam.
Spot-on. Council/crookmayor rob reserves in election year to balance taxes then send dana newman out later to re appraise and we get new tax to pay off the million PLUS our houses get dinged HARD. absolute pillage at the hands of these clowns.
I think a big part of the thing that needs to be asked as well, it what is Dana Naumann going to do on the taxpayer dime after the 5 years is up? Are they going to dismiss her to go pillage another city or keep her in the corner in City Hall after paying her for 5 years?
Pay all this money when all you have to do is buy the software and read the info what a waste.
If $11.00 is 10% of your property tax bill its okay -otherwise about $175.00 per year is more like it then add the new school levy tax you sheep voted in – comes to about 250/300 DOLLARS more per year – have’nt done this in 20 years? (WHAT A LIE) STATE OF iOWA requires THIS DONE EVERY 3 YEARS.
Look at her face – saying – O GEEE! O GEEE! IT WAS’NT ME WHO RAISED YOUR TAXES ! Fire them all or reduce their salry 30% -FAT CATS !
Big set of jowels -small BALLS.
I would think since law enforcement cannot legally come in your home without a warrant you would have to give them consent. If most refuse then the whole project will be no different than they did it in the past which was to drive by and pull a number out of their as=. This number was usually high and they said you could contest this if you wanted. I tried to before and it was a complete waste of time because it is all about more money in their pockets. Now add in the in bread school board who knows no limits to greed and hold on to your pocketbooks. You know the top 3 school administrators make nearly a half million dollars between them.
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FACT ! The scumbums did this in worth county about 4 years ago – PROPERTY TAXES HAVE INCREASED 30% – Cost worthless county about 200 grand for this out of stste company to come in and do it. They want in your house -count tvs – carpet – finished or unfinished grages -basements – even count the guns in you gun cabinet – Casino money not getting back into the hands of the lower income -high school grades get a good deal -but sad to say they will never return to worthless county once they leave.
We have got to vote these bums out, while we can still afford to live in this little town.
FROM NIT STAFF: Please keep comments clean.
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I say we buy more art for downtown and pave the streets in gold and make bookmeyer king so tornquist can be what ever he wants cuz he can do everything because he is so smart
so let him be what ever he wants 🙂 everyone have a great weekend
Someone please explain something to me. Janet Solberg has been on the council for over 3 years. What has she done? What has she brought forward to help the fourth ward? Now more new taxes in addition to the city’s tax hike? This woman is taxing us into oblivion!
I live nearby and was told my street would get paved and she would work it all out once she got in and nope it never hapened
I question why you have both a city and county assessor
So did the City Council. They didn’t understand that the City Assessor was a separate taxing entity that they didn’t control and they also didn’t understand that ithe assessors budget wasn’t part of the city’s. it would increase the cost to the Mason City taxpayer by about 50% to eliminate the city Assessor’s office and use the County Assessor.
We had a chance to get rid of two Supervisors and that didn’t happen. Now look!!
You have a chance to get rid of several council members and Mayor. Think about this.
Urdahl and Doughtery claimed they didn’t raise taxes but Watts pointed out, just this little strategy, like they are using above.
What a mistake we’ve made people.
Watch next, the Supervisor’s have yet to approve the raises for the county. Probably be buried in the Globe.
Thanks to Matt and his staff for NOT hiding facts affecting our futures!!!
This is NO mystery, even though you are making less and less, the city employees, teachers, court house employees, etc, are getting more and more. They refuse to take less.
Untill the private sector refuses to give more, the public sector is going to bleed you for more.
Very true. It is time for a tax revolt in Mason City and Cerro Gordo county.
Lets do it. And one way to put a stop to this crap is to vote out the mayor and his trained monkeys.
PS- VOTE “NO” ON SCHOOL TAX LEVIES!!!
Property values have gone way down in Mason City. Ask anyone trying to sell a home. If this were to be a true reappraisal, accordingly revenue would go down. It is obviously another fundraiser and the poor taxpayer with take the hit AND have to pay for the study. That’s like having to buy your own rope…Un Freaking Believeable!
The is a page out of Jay Urdahl’s playbook. Even though Urdahl and Bookmeyer don’t like each other, Eric is learning from Jay’s tricks.
You can keep the tax rate flat if you get someone to raise property values, just like they do in the county. You bring in more revenue without ever raising the tax rate since the property values are higher. Do you really think any government agency will lower a tax rate?
Jay and Eric have both already made the argument that they kept your tax rate flat… but in reality they have already set in motion their plan to take more of our money. When you look at the dirty laundry list of what Eric and his council have blown the public’s money on, any sane person would be outraged. I will talk about this later.
The problem is, Eric is a master at dis-engaging the public from the process, so there may be no stopping the thievery. Almost no one in town cares or pays attention to what is going on at City Hall. I routinely hear that Eric and his council ignore emails and phone calls. Eric and his council do not have the courage and many times the knowledge to answer their critics when they take the podium, which is why they only listen and are not allowed to answer questions.
You said, “Do you really think any government agency will lower a tax rate?”, but you want to run for office? So you won’t lower our taxes either? And if you say you would, you are lying on one end of this conversation, no WAY are you the only person out of all elected officials who would lower taxes. You may have to raise taxes to pay for your Public employees you support. That is the truth, and if NIT only prints the truth, than admit it, you are going to raise our taxes.
Part of the problem, is the large number of people fleeing this dying town, and raising valuations will just force more and more out of here.
Truth.
I also agree. No decent jobs =no people = no city.
City council+ chamber of commerce+ large moneyed interests= dead Mason City.
I am looking at moving to a city that is at least maintaining its economy.
This is pure BULL. She is on staff and paid a salary. Why should we pay double for this study. If we have to pay extra for everything get rid of all of the staff and hire contractors when needed. This is nothing more than a scam to raise taxes. My property values went up and up during the past few years and it didn’t take a study to do it. It shouldn’t take a study to bring the value back down.
Well – who do you suppose will pay for that million dollar boon doogle ! Yep – they will have to raise property taxes at least 1 million dollars next year and keep up that balance – run them out of town – public sevant fat cats.
I too wonder how all our leaders can claim they HOLD taxes but hide behind the extra monies raised by raising property valuations. Our house is not worth the appraised value, but I pay higher taxes on “their” valuation. And correct me if I’m wrong but does not the City, County and School get that extra money??
Again, I side with nomama below
Property taxes were jacket thru the roof during the housing bubble. Time for them to be reduced to reflect prices people are actually getting. This will never happen because the only fix people can find for excessive spending is higher taxes.
This folks is how people like the County Supervisor’s get by with stating they haven’t raised taxes!! they just raise your property values and rake in the extra.
Wake up people!
This is about CITY taxes . NOT county. duuh.
I’m not to sure about that. The city assessor works in the county court house. It’s like, hand in hand.
No re-appraisals have been done for at least 20 years, but it seems like my property tax has gone up almost every year. What am I missing.
I thought there was a state law requirement that 1/5th the properties be appraised every year – anyone know about this?