County’s property values increase
HARTINGTON – More than 6,800 Cedar County residents received notices that their property values are changing in 2023.
County Assessor Becky Dresden said the notices were mailed out on June 1 and sent to every owner with a change in value whether that was an increase or decrease.
She expected there to be an overall increase in value for Cedar County property although the numbers are still preliminary.
“Pretty much everything changed,” Dresden said. “It’s all according to the sales, and the sales have just been really high.”
The pre-certified real estate value is more than $2.6 billion, but that amount does not include personal property.
For comparison, last year’s certified total value – including real estate, agricultural land and personal property – came in at more than $2.4 billion.
A raise in valuation does not necessarily mean there will be an increase in taxes for property owners.
The tax rate or levy is set after budgets have been submitted each August. If budget requests increase, taxes will be raised.
State law mandates the assessed value on property must fall within a range – or required level of value – established by the Nebraska Legislature.
The statute states agricultural land has to be valued between 68-75 percent of what the sales are showing while the range for residential and commercial property is placed at 92 to 100 percent of the sales.
The selling price is recorded when a property is sold and the deed is recorded. The county assessor’s office then records the assessed value and a copy is submitted to the Nebraska Department of Revenue.
Residential property values – which have increased across the county – are set using the last two years of sales.
Dresden noted Laurel and Randolph were in the 70s when it came to the percent of the sales for residential properties, so those communities saw the largest rise to reach the required level of value at 92 to 100 percent of the sales.
“The houses are selling for that much more than what we have them valued at,” Dresden said. “Then we have to raise them to be in that range (of 92 to 100 percent) or the state will make us raise them. If we’re not in that required level of value, the state will step in and do an order to raise them.”
Agricultural land and commercial property values are both set using sales from the previous three years.
Commercial values did not see an increase other than in apartment complexes, which Dresden noted there were several sales of during the last three years, so those had to be re-evaluated.
This year in agricultural values, irrigated land values saw an increase from anywhere from 2 percent to 10 percent and dryland values increased across a range from 9 percent to 16 percent.
Grassland values increased by 5 percent and tree-covered land values increased by 8 percent.
People who want to file property valuation protests must submit those to the county clerk’s office by June 30.
Certification of the total values for the year will be mailed to each political subdivision by Aug. 20.