Preliminary Property Valuations Available in Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster Counties
Assessors in counties with more than 150,000 people must now provide property owners with preliminary property valuations and an opportunity to meet with the county assessor’s staff before the assessor submits the property abstract to state regulators. These preliminary property valuations are now available on the county assessor websites in the qualifying counties – Douglas, Sarpy, and Lancaster.
Previously, property owners in Douglas County and Sarpy County had to wait until May for their property valuations, and then had the month of June to protest their values. Lancaster County started providing preliminary valuations in 2009. As it has already done in Lancaster County, the preliminary valuation period will provide property owners in Douglas and Sarpy Counties an additional opportunity to challenge the value assigned to their property.
Property owners who disagree with their preliminary valuations must contact their assessor by February 3, 2014 in Douglas County or Lancaster County and March 1, 2014 in Sarpy County to arrange an informational hearing with the assessor’s staff. At the informational hearing, the assessor must provide a basis for the preliminary valuation and the property owner can present evidence supporting their proposed value for their property.
The assessor will not make a determination of value at the informational hearing. Rather, the assessor’s staff will review the information after the hearing and will set final values in May. If the property owner still disagrees with the final value, he or she may file a formal property valuation protest in June.