Bannock County: Board of Equalization Statistics

(Bannock County Newsletter, August 13, 2024)

By:

~ Emma Iannacone

Public Information Officer

Board of Equalization

In June, property owners in Bannock County received their assessment notices, informing them of their property’s current value for tax purposes. If they disagreed with their assessed value, they had the opportunity to speak with the Assessor’s Office or appeal to the Board of Equalization (BOE).

As promised, here is an update about how this year’s BOE hearings went.

This year, 93% of the appealed values were upheld, meaning the Board agreed with the Assessor’s Office assessed value, and the appeal was essentially denied. This is a stark contrast to 2021, when only 19% of the values were upheld. And since 2021, the Board has upheld an increasingly larger percentage of values.

I spoke with Assessor Anita Hymas about why the Board would have such a drastic swing from four years ago. She credits the new software program (Proval, a “Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal” system) used by appraisers as helping find more accurate values. With more accurate assessed values, more properties are in compliance with the State requirement of assessed values being within 90% to 110% of actual market value. If a property’s assessed value is in compliance and reflects market value, the Board must uphold the Assessor’s value.

Below, you can compare the statistics for the previous five years.