High home valuations and property tax rates are worrying Douglas County homeowners.

OMAHA, Nebraska (Nebraska) – If you’ve had sticker shock over your property tax bill, you’re not alone.

750 Metro homeowners filed a formal complaint with a Douglas County appraiser in an attempt to convince the appraiser that their home’s valuation was incorrect, based on 2023 data. By comparison, there were 587 formal complaints in 2022, 706 in 2021 and 1,155 in 2020.

Homeowners have until the end of February to dispute current estimates.

The huge increase in ratings is not limited to just one part of the county. For example, the value of a 115-year-old home in Midtown’s Bemis Park neighborhood jumped $31,000 in a year. That means $700 a year increase in property taxes, which is hard to budget for any family.

“It’s a stressful part of the year because you don’t know what the appraiser is going to do,” said homeowner Brian Eicher.

He lives in the northwest part of the county in the Pine Creek area of ​​Bennington. The value of his estate jumped $83,000.

“[My] my heart stopped and that’s when I started counting… that’s almost another $3,000 a year in property taxes, which is a small payment on a car,” Eicher said.

The Douglas County Appraiser team reports that 750 homeowners have filed formal complaints when it comes to appraising their homes. The appraisers say they base the information on comparable sales data for the area over the past two years.

The problem homeowners see now is that last year saw some of the highest Metro sales in years, and that the home sales market has already fallen due to higher interest rates, but their estimates are based on outrageous numbers.

“We bought this house knowing we could afford it and did the taxes, give or take a little, and then found out it didn’t matter,” Eicher said.

Like hundreds of other homeowners in Douglas County, Brian Eicher plans to keep fighting everyone who has a seat at the tax table.

You may still submit relevant information that you believe may change your assessment by email at [email protected].

Disgruntled homeowners can also file a protest with the Settlement Board.

Content Source

The Sarpy County – Latest News:
Omaha Local News || Nebraska State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Tech News || Lifestyle News