Addendum to Lake Kabekona Property Tax Information:

Heidi Soneson has received the following additional information from the Lakeport Township assessor and the Steamboat River Township assessor on Saturday:

Individuals can begin to schedule meetings starting April 23 to present their appeal information by calling the County Assessor’s Office.  Individuals don’t need to wait until May 3, 2022, but they should have their appointments by June 1 because the committee needs time to review the information before their formal meeting on June 13, 2022.  Here again is the contact information to schedule a meeting and present your official evidence for an appeal:

http://www.co.hubbard.mn.us/departments/assessor/contact_us.php

or

http://www.co.hubbard.mn.us/departments/assessor/index.php

The May 3 meeting could be quite busy because it is a public venue for all of the Townships listed in the previous message.  Be prepared to wait to speak with a county assessor either in person or on the phone.  The local township assessors for our lake will not be there because the May 3 meeting is for individuals to gather information and ask questions about the county valuation process.

When deciding whether to gather the information and make an appeal, keep in mind the following:

Typically, properties are visited once every 5 years for valuation. For homes that have a rebuild or new addition, the local township assessor will make a visit to the property to value the property. As a result, not all properties are visited each year. Individuals can make their own arrangements to have an official written appraisal done to submit for an appeal submission. It is important to check similar properties on the lake as well using the map below to see how other properties are valued and submit this information with your appeal, if you decide to appeal:

https://maps-hubbardcounty.opendata.arcgis.com/

Keep in mind that valuation is not just based on an individual dwelling/property. It also includes general construction in the area, the rising cost of services/goods that the county needs to purchase to provide for the county needs, demand for property on the lake, school district tax, the application of the county policy of distributing rising county costs fairly across all properties (if some places are taxed lower, then the county needs to collect the money from the other properties on the lake to meet its budget needs), quality of the lake where the dwelling is located, the rise and fall of the economic market, etc.  The appeals committee will be considering all of this.

Keep in mind that most of Lake Kabekona is in Lakeport Township, but a small portion along the south lakefront is Steamboat River Township.  Here are the local assessors for the various townships:

http://www.co.hubbard.mn.us/departments/assessor/local_assessor_contacts.php

Mr. David Johnson (Lakeport Township assessor), Mr. Lowell Skoog (Steamboat River Township assessor), and Ms. Jamie Freeman (Hubbard County assessor) were very responsive to Heidi’s request for information and very willing to answer questions.