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High assessments in C.R. raise questions

The Gazette Opinion Staff

Mar. 23, 2011 12:03 pm

The March 17 story (“Valued added”) stated that those property owners with flood-damaged property could get an independent assessment of the property value for Cedar Rapids buyout purposes.

It stated that the vast majority of the homeowners who took advantage of this offer obtained assessments that were considerably higher than those that the city had made and that the city would pay these higher assessments if the appraisers were state certified.

My question is: Are the city appraisers state certified and if not, why not? If they are, then we either have some sort of conspiracy (not likely) by the property owners, a procedural discrepancy in the assessors office, or what?

Gordon Taylor

Anamosa

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