Awaiting a buyout? A new, city-paid appraisal from appraiser of your choice won't be challenged; what house in city isn't undervalued? Swore suggests

CEDAR RAPIDS - Council member Chuck Wieneke stopped short this week of encouraging every one of the 1,300 or so owners of a flood-damaged property to take the city up on its offer to pay up to $500 for owners to get their own appraisal of the pre-flood value of their property.

But Wieneke certainly did say he suspected more owners would seek a new, city-paid appraisal from an appraiser of their choosing if they somehow learn of what the City Council opted to do this week.

After taking office in January, Mayor Ron Corbett won support for a new city policy in which the city agreed to pay owners of flood-damaged property for a new appraisal to be used in the city's buyout process.

The city staff then set up a review panel, comprised of volunteer local Realtors, to make a decision about a property's pre-flood value using the owner's new appraisal and the city assessor's appraisal.

Corbett along with council members Don Karr and Chuck Swore this week said they didn't want a review panel. A new appraisal, from a certified appraiser, was good enough for them. A council majority agreed.

Karr cited one example in which an owner's city-paid appraiser concluded that the pre-flood value of the house was $72,000, not the $48,000 value that the city assessor had put on the house.

The review panel disagreed, and kept the value at $48,000.

The council's action this week will change that. The city now will base the city's buyout offer on the higher amount.

Council member Tom Podzimek said he could line up 30 certified appraisers, each of whom would come in with a different number on a home's value. He suggested a homeowner would have some incentive to shop around and get a couple of numbers, and use the best one.

Podzimek said the city should use an established practice and have the new appraisal figure taken in front of the existing Board of Review, which is tasked with making such decisions for all the property in the city.

Wieneke said that Podzimek had a good point, but the council majority rejected the idea.

Swore said he would never use the city's assessed value of his home if he were trying to sell it. He suggested the real value of his house was higher, though he said no one would try to make that case before a sale because it would mean paying more in property taxes.

Corbett said, “We're trying to treat people fairly.”

Corbett noted that only six people out of 107 owners in the first batch of buyouts – those closest to the river that are being bought out to make way for a greenway that is able to flood – have sought a new appraisal.

One caveat: The city will only pay half of the cost of a new appraisal up to $250 if for some reason the appraiser says the property's value actually is less than the city assessor's figure.