Valuations rise 10.8%

Increase a sign of vigorous economy, county official says

Spurred by simple market value appreciation and new construction, the total real estate assessed valuation for 2006 compiled late last month amounts to more than $975 million, or a 10.8 percent increase over last year. That is more than $94.69 million above last year’s total, according to the county appraiser’s office.

“New construction typically amounts to 2.5 to 3.5 percent” of the valuation percentage increase, County Appraiser Marion Johnson said.

Johnson said there was no major factor other than basic market appreciation and construction causing the increase.

In Lawrence, the total assessed valuation for 2006 is $780.66 million, for a 12 percent increase. Increases in Baldwin and Eudora were 8.9 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.

In 2005 Douglas County’s assessed valuation jumped 8.4 percent, and 8.3 percent in 2004.

Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug said he was a little surprised at how much the valuation increased based on the nation’s economy during the past year.

“But it’s a pleasant surprise because it’s a reflection of positive things going on in the Douglas County economy,” Weinaug said.

The county, however, could take a monetary “hit” because the Kansas Legislature is considering various legislation that will reduce the county’s revenue streams, such as a bill that would exempt commercial and industrial machinery and equipment taxes beginning in 2007.

“All the major tax cuts that they are considering in the Legislature don’t affect the state. They affect the local governments,” Weinaug said. “The only alternative that the local governments have is the property tax.”

Tax valuations were mailed to property owners last week, but it is too early to determine exactly how the valuation totals and individual notices will be affected by taxes. But they can get some indication, Weinaug said.

If you presume that the county’s mill levy stays even, then you can presume that someone with a 10 percent valuation increase will see a 10 percent tax increase. The mill levy never stays even, but you don’t know for sure what your taxes are going to be until the mill levy is set, Weinaug said. That usually occurs later in the year after budgets are determined by local taxing entities.

A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property valuation.

Gene Johnson fully expects his taxes to go up because they do every year. The valuation on his house went up $3,000 this year, he said. The 70-year-old Lawrence retiree lives on a fixed income, which makes the increases more difficult to swallow each year.

“It seems to me they are building more new houses in this town than they ever have, and they have all these new taxes coming in, but they keep raising the taxes on the old ones,” Johnson said. “I think if a person is retired on fixed income, they ought to freeze the taxes.”

The appraiser’s office shows that urban residential properties’ total value was $596.6 million while rural residential came in at $75.78 million. Urban commercial amounted to $229.81 million, and rural commercial amounted to $6.55 million.

Home values in Tonganoxie soar by 17.6 percent.

—-Caroline Trowbridge – Tonganoxie Mirror Editor

Property values in Tonganoxie – and in all of Leavenworth County – are soaring, in part because of an influx of people moving in from Douglas and Johnson counties.

According to County Appraiser Donna Graf, who recently mailed new valuation notices to property owners, the value of all residential property in the city shot up 17.6 percent from 2005.

“You have a lot of growth,” Graf said, “and we added 120 residential parcels to Tonganoxie last year. That’s growth. You have new construction. You’re in the southern part of the county, and land values are going up.”

And Graf said she sees no indications the upward climb in values will stop anytime soon. New residents from Johnson, Douglas and Wyandotte counties are driving up population and land prices, she said.

“Interest rates are low, and you’ve got the influx coming in from other counties,” Graf said. “We’re getting higher- and higher-dollar homes being built. You’re seeing large homes – half-million dollars, three-quarters of a million dollars. We used to not have any.”

Rural property is selling for premium prices, Graf said.

“I don’t care if it has two acres, they sell very high,” she added. “It’s just Johnson (County) coming, Douglas coming in down there. They’re migrating into our county. Wyandotte, too.”

Here are the increased valuations, provided by Graf:

¢ Tonganoxie residential, up 17.6 percent from 2005.

¢ Leavenworth County residential, up 12.3 percent from 2005.

¢ Tonganoxie commercial property, up 4 percent from last year.

¢ Countywide, commercial property, up 1.6 percent from 2005.

In Tonganoxie, all property was valued at about $236 million this year, compared with about $207 million last year. That represents a 14.2 percent increase.

Countywide, all property was valued at $3.68 billion this year, compared with $3.3 billion in 2005, an increase of 10.4 percent.

And here’s a historical look at the percentage increases in property valuations throughout the county:

¢ 2005 property values were 10.5 percent higher than 2004.

¢ 2004 property values were 9 percent higher than 2003.

¢ 2003 values were 13 percent higher than 2002.

¢ 2002 property values were 9 percent higher than 2001.

– Tonganoxie Mirror Editor Caroline Trowbridge can be reached at 913-845-2222.