Assessor's Office dedicated equitability, fairness

I would like to rebut a few things in the Bayview assessment article. I think that Annisa Keith tried to do a good job. She said that she tried to change "lawsuit" to "dispute," but it was not corrected until after publication.

It was not a "felt it in our bones feeling" regarding the values in this subdivision. We have had many inquiries as to why the assessments in the neighborhood were so low.  No one in the Assessor's Office enjoys placing large increases on properties.

The article is correct stating that we work with all available information. After receiving additional information from the appellants, it appeared our improvement values were too low. That was why we requested the increase, not to be vindictive.  As stated to Annisa, we only want the values to be right. It would be nice if the Board of Tax Appeals were concerned about equitability and fairness. That is one of our goals. Maybe the property owners can start requesting the Idaho Legislature to make that change. I am not making excuses, just explaining the situation.  

DONNA GOW

Sandpoint