John Mullins was shocked by the figure staring back at him from the property valuation notice he pulled from his mailbox Tuesday.
The Lancaster County Assessor valued his 675-square-foot bungalow in the South Bottoms built in the early 1900s at $98,400 — a 42% jump from last year’s $69,200 valuation.
“That’s just rude,†he said. “Ninety-eight thousand, four hundred dollars for this old house is outrageous.â€
He’s likely not the only homeowner suffering sticker shock.
Lancaster County Assessor Rob Ogden said his office sent out about 100,000 notifications to property owners this week. If a property’s valuation didn’t change, owners didn’t get a notice.
They reassessed primarily residential property, he said, affected by what’s been a seller’s market driven by a long period of low interest rates and a lack of houses on the market, leading to multiple offers on a property and buyers offering well over the asking price.
“It’s real crazy,†Ogden said. “It’s sort of what I call a sick market. There aren’t enough properties for the people who want them, so it’s just not healthy. But it is what it is, until we get it sorted out.â€
Overall, the average increase in the county was 10.75%, though Scott Gaines, chief administrative deputy with the assessor's office, warned that can be misleading.
Some property valuations went down, others went up, many 5% to 20%, he said, though some went up considerably more than that based on phone calls to the office.
Mullins said he’s talked to a number of people who saw 15% to 20% increases, including his father. Although his house needs work, that seems much more reasonable given the location and condition, he said.
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Gaines said really big jumps likely mean there's been some improvements made or it was under-valued before.
Mullins said he replaced his roof, but his foundation is still sinking and water seeps in when it rains.
Property tax revenue for schools and local governments is based on property valuations, which will be finalized in August. Those governments will figure their budgets, and property owners will get a tax statement sometime in October. The biggest chunk of that — more than 60% — comes from Lincoln Public Schools.
The assessor’s office did little with commercial properties this year, Ogden said, because they’re waiting to see whether the effects of the pandemic turn out to be long-term. They made a substantial adjustment in apartments and multi-family homes, he said.
The office hopes to adjust valuations annually to stay abreast of market activity, rather than doing a large re-valuation every few years, Ogden said.
People can file protests with the county clerk until June 30. For more information, go to .
Mullins said he plans to do that, because he doesn't believe his house could sell for the value assigned to it. The jump in his property valuation means he’d have to make three payments a year, not two.
“I doubt there’s very many people who got zapped that hard,†he said.