Why Did Your Property Value Spike? City Assessor Has Answers

When property valuation notices arrive in mailboxes, calls come in to city and county offices asking questions.

“The big question, normally, is ‘Is my house really worth this?'” said Maple Grove City Assessor Markus Yager. “We can run through their record, kind of see if our data seems like it’s right or see if something seems like there’s amiss there. So it really is worth a call if people have concerns there.”

The assessments are based almost entirely on the values of comparably-sized homes in a given area, Yager said. Those values are based on sales figures, usually measured between October and the following September. The sales are tracked on an interactive map on the city’s website.

A handful of Hennepin County cities, including Maple Grove, have their own assessors. Notices for this year went out on March 23, and homeowners have until next week to appeal.

Despite a recent cooling in the housing market, sellers like Amy Kobielush and her husband have found success. The couple is relocating from Maple Grove to Omaha, Neb.

“We were pretty happy,” said Kobielush. “It sold for far over asking and better than we could have expected, so that was good.”

That value has an impact on the assessments of homes nearby.

“If they still have concerns on their value, they think something is wrong on their record, the next step is to go out and take a look at their property,” said Yager. “So we’ll do kind of a complete review. We’ll look at the inside, outside, remeasure, make sure we have the correct data.”

There may end up being changes to the assessment, he said, if staff find significant changes or different data about the property than what the city originally had on file.

Maple Grove’s assessment appeals meeting is April 18. If residents still have questions after attending the meeting, they can then appeal to Hennepin County. But Yager said they first have to attend a city-level meeting.

Hennepin County handles assessments for dozens of municipalities that don’t have their own assessors. In addition to Maple Grove, cities with their own assessors include Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Eden Prairie, Edina, Minneapolis, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park.

Maple Grove | Twin Cities