City Council Workshop

10801 Town Square Drive City of Blaine Blaine MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes - Final City Council Workshop *While this is a public meeting where interested persons are welcome to attend, it is a work session for Council and staff to discuss issues before them. It is not for the purpose of receiving public input. Monday, March 24, 2014 7:00 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A Meeting Number 14-18 NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING WITH BOARD OF REVIEW 1 Call to Order ALSO PRESENT: Clark Arneson, City Manager and Recording Secretary Linda Dahlquist. Anoka County Assessor’s Office: Diana Stellmach, Chief Deputy Assessor; Kelsey Jorrison, Assessment Support Manager; Sue Rinehart, Senior Appraiser - C & I Properties; Ron Foster, Residential Appraiser; Andrea Jones, Residential Appraiser; Shawn Halligan, Residential Appraiser; Jack Purkis, Residential Appraiser. Board of Review Members: Gary Smith, Laurie Pekarik, Lynda Riley, Randi Erickson, Vice Chair; and Jane Daniels, Chair. Present: 3 - Mayor Ryan, Councilmember Hovland, and Councilmember Herbst Absent: 3 - Councilmember Swanson, Councilmember Clark, and Councilmember Bourke 2 Roll Call 3 New Business 1. TMP 14-1677 REVIEW OF CITY OF BLAINE ASSESSMENT TRENDS 2014 PAYABLE 2015 Ms. Stellmach distributed a draft of the 2014 Local Board of Appeal and Equalization packet that will be used at the meeting on April 14, 2014. She stated Blaine’s residential market value is up 18.5% and County wide 15%; although the northern communities have not rebound like the southern communities. She stated the taxable market value is 19.5%. She commented the Department of Revenue (DOR) changed the way they calculate sales ratio City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final March 24, 2014 and judge the County’s assessment. She stated the DOR uses a “looking forward ratio” from sales sold during the ratio period and adjusted them forward to the new assessment date. Ms. Daniels asked about a list of sales she had gotten from the County and that the homes listed were under estimate value. Ms. Stellmach stated that list was out of date and she would get a new list to Ms. Daniels. Ms. Daniels stated the value that realtors go on is the property selling price. Ms. Stellmach stated values depend on where the property is located county wide. She suggested comparing values to what was sold. Councilmember Herbst asked for overall taxable market value. Ms. Stellmach replied she will get the State assessed value in August. She stated taxable values are estimated to be for Residential 19% Commercial 1.1%, and Agricultural 1.2%. She stated overall taxable values are up 15%. City Manager Arneson asked about the assessment map shading. Ms. Stellmach replied the west side 2014 and the east side is 2013. Mr. Smith asked about the “looking forward ratio.” Ms. Stellmach replied the DOR looks at properties by class. She commented DOR values are on existing compared to new. Jane Daniels asked if sales are from end of October to January 2. Ms. Stellmach replied the DOR looked at October 1, 2012 to January 2, 2014. Ms. Erickson asked about flipped homes. Ms. Stellmach commented the DOR looks at flips at arms-length transactions. Ms. Erickson commented that single family homes are moving fast on the market. Councilmember Herbst asked if the County has any info on new homes. Ms. Stellmach replied the numbers are raw and unaudited. Ms. Erickson asked about the percentage of homestead versus non homestead. Ms. Stellmach replied there was no change noticed. City Manager Arneson asked about commercial. Ms. Rinehart replied there is a decrease in vacancies. She stated there is not much in sales of repeat properties in commercial/industrial. She commented the market is flat. She stated she had to compare with the rest of Anoka. She stated there were five sales in Blaine and County wide there was 94.54% with no time adjustment due to inclusive results. She added that platted vacant land is not selling. Ms. Riley commented it takes commercial longer from one to two years to recover from a slow economy. City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final March 24, 2014 Councilmember Hovland commented businesses are not looking to expand right now. Mr. Rinehart commented businesses are looking for cheaper rents, which are not in strip malls. City Manager Arneson asked if the bank owned properties have been sold. Mr. Foster said there are 369 properties that remain bank owned over the 15 month period. Mr. Foster commented about a small townhome community off Edgewood that is non-homestead except for one that is owned and the rest are rental. Councilmember Hovland asked about the looking forward estimating and if it will self-adjust. Mr. Purkis stated the increase is larger due to the values are 15 months versus 12. He noted there was a large market increase in the fourth quarter. He commented people are concerned about the large market value increases. Ms. Riley commented home owners may want to have their homes reappraised. Mr. Purkis stated most homeowners will lose their tax credit due to the higher market value. Mr. Foster commented Blaine had a typical year for new home sales. Councilmember Herbst asked if the City has received calls on property taxes. City Manager Arneson replied just a few. Mr. Foster and Mr. Purkis stated the County has received a few calls. Mayor Ryan commented the rental properties’ taxes are starting to go up. Ms. Daniels asked how Northtown did in property valuation. Ms. Rinehart replied Northtown was flat. Mayor Ryan commented Aveda is under a tax increment agreement. Councilmember Hovland commented online sales are having an effect on brick and mortar manufacturing. Ms. Erickson commented that Shade Tree is a rent-to-own company. She suggested Council look at their website. Mr. Foster asked if Shade Tree’s interest rates were predatory. Ms. Erickson replied no. City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final March 24, 2014 Mr. Foster estimated there will be a number of residential owners will be coming to the meeting in April. Ms. Daniels commented that Minneapolis has a moratorium on demolishing old homes and building large new homes, and if that could happen in Blaine’s older neighborhoods. Mr. Purkis replied Minneapolis does not have any free land and Blaine still has open land. Mayor Ryan commented redevelopment will happen in the older neighborhoods. Discussed ADJOURN Adjourned at 8:10 pm City of Blaine Page 4