Will line grow long for new city-paid buyout appraisals if new appraisal is accepted without review?

The Corbett-led City Council has agreed to pay up to $500 for a new appraisal for those property owners who would like one before agreeing to a city buyout of their flood-damaged property.

To date, only three to five people have sought such a new appraisal, and Mayor Ron Corbett said Tuesday that he suspects that few people will take such a step now that the city has agreed to pay 107 percent of a property's pre-flood value, up from the 100 percent it had been.

However, even the best of intentions is causing a little firestorm.

In one particular example, an owner obtained a new appraisal of $72,000 on a home that had been valued at $48,000 by the city assessor's office before the flood.

As now set up, the new appraisal is taken in front of a review panel, which consists of volunteer Realtors not involved in the appraisal.

In the one example, the review panel apparently rejected the new appraisal, council member Don Karr reported this week.

Among the options the council will discuss Tuesday evening is whether the owner can appeal to the council if he or she disagrees with the review panel. Another option would eliminate the review panel and simply accept the new appraisal.

It will be interesting to see if the line for new appraisals lengthens if the owner's new appraisal is the one that automatically sets the pre-flood value of the home.