Title
Tax Refund Request for Roll 1623000
Proposed Motion(s)
That Council approve a tax refund of $2,550.76 for Roll 1623000.
Body
Administration Recommendation(s)
Administration supports the recommendation.
Purpose
To consider the property owner's request for the refund of taxes on Roll 1623000.
Summary
An agent for the property owner has submitted a request for Council to consider the refund of taxes for Roll 1623000. Administration's understanding is that an assessment error existed on the property starting in 2003 and was only discovered by the property owner when the assessor corrected the assessment in 2012, creating a lower tax obligation for the property. The property owner is now looking for a refund of the taxes paid on the assessment error from 2003 to 2011.
The property owner purchased the property around 2003 and never questioned the amount of taxes being paid as they believed that a large parcel of agricultural land warranted the amount of property tax assessed. The lower tax obligation in 2012 had the property owner to question why the County was lowering the property taxes when they had been higher in the past. The property owners questioning determined that earlier assessments included a residential acreage that was subdivided from the property in 2002; however the assessment on the quarter section was never amended to remove the subdivided parcel.
Administration conducted an analysis of the difference between the actual and adjusted taxes paid on the property from 2003 to 2011 and determined that $5,101.52 of the municipal taxes paid relates to the assessment error. Administration advised the agent that the property owner shares a responsibility to review and understand their assessment annually to ensure it is correct; therefore Administration is recommending a refund of 50% of the difference between the actual and adjusted municipal taxes paid from 2003 to 2011, or $2,550.76. Administration did not include the requisitions ...
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