Developers file lawsuit against Johnson County assessor

Three developers in Coralville are suing the Johnson County  assessor and the county for overvalued property assessments by 54 percent.

Town Square Developers, CAS Development and SKOG Development claim in a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Johnson County District Court that Assessor William Greazel has made calculation errors of their properties for years.

The owners appealed the increases each year and after taking it to the State's Property Assessment Appeal Board in 2008,  Greazel has become “embarassed by the proceedings” and developed “ill will” toward the owners because the board found his assessed values erroneous and reduced the values, according to the suit.

According to the suit, Greazel in 2009 imposed valuations for Town Square properties that would increase the combined value from the previous assessment by more than $4.1 million, an increase of 54 percent, without any significant improvements to the property.

Greazel at a hearing on the appeal, claimed the increase was to make up for “too many breaks” he had given them in the past, according to the suit. Greazel admitted he made an error of $1.5 million and re-calculated the values and promised to advise the Local Board of Review of the error.

At the hearing, Greazel didn't recommend the revised values to the board or make them aware of his mistake, according to the suit. The board denied relief to the developers. Then, Greazel said he would reduce the assessed valuation by $1.5 million if the developers would waive their right to any further appeal.

According to the suit, the developers then objected to the Johnson County Conference Board about Greazel's behavior and valuation errors and then Greazel in retaliation, ordered an off-year re-assessment of one of the Town Square properties as of Jan. 1, 2010 and increased its assessed value by more than $1.2 million.

Greazel didn't conduct the off year assessment but contacted the Local Board of Review without the developers knowledge and encouraged it to assess a value higher than the more than $1.2 million that was being appealed, according to the suit. The board then imposed an increase of more than $2 million, which was an 80 percent increase over the county's prior assessment and 184 percent increase over the state's appeal board's assessment.

The developers claim Greazel violated their due process rights and rights to appeal, and because of his actions they have experienced economic loss related to appealing this case, paying unjust tax increases and interference with economic relations with their tenants.

The developers ask for a jury trial to seek punitive damages against Greazel. They also ask that Johnson County declare Greazel's actions are contrary to law and the U.S. and state constitutions.