WILLMAR — The Kandiyohi County Board decided Tuesday to table until June 6 any decision regarding who will be responsible for property assessments in the county. This will give impacted townships and cities a chance to give the commissioners feedback before the decision is made.
"I want them to feel like they had an opportunity to give us feedback," said Commissioner Roger Imdieke.
The resolution would have made the County Assessor's Office responsible for all property assessments in the county — 29,292 parcels across 29 districts. Currently, seven districts use their own local assessors to view the property before the county office staff takes over and comes up with the final value. The rest of the districts pay the county to do the work.
If the County Board decides to approve the resolution to make Kandiyohi County what some call a True County assessing county, it would add approximately $422,000 to the county levy. However there should be no increase on property taxes, as the cities and townships will no longer have to contract with the county for assessing or pay local assessors and those levies should decrease accordingly.
The new way of assessing, if approved, would go into effect for the 2025 assessment, which will be done next year.
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"In 2024 we would be viewing all properties in the county," said County Assessor Val Svor.
Svor said its important the board make its decision before the districts have to sign contracts with assessors, usually around July 1. She said she has spoken with the districts who use local assessors about the possible changes coming.
If the resolution is approved, Kandiyohi County will join 36 other counties that use the True County system.
The Trust Project
