After receiving a property tax assessment with a 24% increase this year, Haysville homeowner John Eichelberger filed an appeal and discovered that his home, with no improvements, was being valued at what it would cost to rebuild, rather than its market value based on sales comparables. Armed with questions, spreadsheets, and evidence, he testified before the Sedgwick County Commission and later won a $60,000 reduction from his appraisal increase of over $90,000. His appearance before the commission begins at the 3:50:00 mark
Eichelberger says he didn’t agree with County Appraiser Deanna Aspedon’s rationale for his assessment increase:
“The appraiser advised that they were doing a “Catch Up” in my appraised value to correct the appraised value of my property due to the previous appraiser’s negligence in pricing it where it should be. However, for me, it made my house hyper-inflated rather than giving me a true market value of my house.”
A member of his Timberlane North HOA, Eichelberger researched other properties in his neighborhood and found that all had been appraised in the same manner: replacement cost rather than market value based on comparables. Valuation increases for the HOA ranged from 14-30%…