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Commission Minutes—June 6, 2022 5571 <br />6. PUBLIC COMMENT <br />Mr. Steen asked for public comment and hearing none, moved on to the regular agenda items. <br />7. TAX EQUALIZATION BOARD, Convened for 2022 <br />Chairman Rick Steen convened the Cass County Board of Tax Equalization for 2022. Paul Fracassi, <br />County Director of Equalization, discussed the 2022 annual report. He said the current taxable value <br />of Cass County is $1,133,356,641 which is up 9.5% from 2021. He said the median value of a home <br />in Cass County is $290,000, up from $259,900 last year. Mr. Fracassi said agricultural land values <br />saw a decrease of 4% from 2021 to 2022. <br />Equalization of Cities <br />The following appellants from the City of Fargo provided written documentation reserving their right <br />to appeal before the Board: <br />Amazon <br />An appeal was submitted by James Poliyanskiy on behalf of Amazon for a property located at 3737 <br />44th Avenue North in Fargo. The 2022 value was set at $123,627,000. The City of Fargo has <br />recommended the value be adjusted to $119,401,800 after an on-site review of the property was <br />completed. <br />Mr. Poliyanskiy was present and said Amazon is appealing the assessed value set by the City of <br />Fargo for two main reasons; first that a 240,000 square foot second-level mezzanine used for <br />storage the City of Fargo claims is real property and Amazon believes is personal property. He said <br />the mezzanine level including all storage and equipment is removable and if Amazon were to leave <br />the facility, they would have to remove the storage system and all equipment. He said the equipment <br />is specific to Amazon and would not be useful to another user. He said the area should be deemed <br />personal property and not included in the assessed value. Mr. Poliyanskiy said the second main <br />reason for the appeal is due to the City of Fargo rating the constriction of the building at an above <br />average rating and Amazon believes it should be rated as average. <br />Fargo City Assessor, Michael Splonskowski was present and said the City of Fargo completed an <br />on-site review of the property and takes the stance that the mezzanine level is not personal property <br />as it is a large second level with stairway, electrical wiring, and sprinkler system. He said it would be <br />a large project to remove the mezzanine level and all related equipment and, therefore, the City of <br />Fargo believes it to be real property. <br />Four Points by Sheraton <br />An appeal was submitted by Pivotal Tax Solutions on behalf of HAJ Hospitality for a property located <br />at 5064 23rd Avenue South in Fargo, the Four Points by Sheraton hotel. The 2022 value was set at <br />6,134,500. The applicants requested value is $3,272,000, a 47% reduction. Mr. Fracassi said <br />Pivotal Tax Solutions supplied a one year of income statement and an income analysis with their <br />appeal. <br />Chaz Stadage from Pivotal Tax Solitons was present and said the hotel has struggled with vacancy <br />rates since COVID began in 2020. He said an income statement for 2021 was included in the appeal <br />and pivotal supplied an income approach to support their requested value. <br />Jeffrey Eisert <br />An appeal was submitted by Jeffrey Eisert for a property located at 3043 18th Street South and 3045 <br />18th Street South in Fargo. The 2022 value was set at $238,200. Mr. Fracassi said the property <br />owner reached out wanting to appeal their value and said they would provide documentation; <br />however, no information has been provided yet. The applicant or a representative was not present at <br />the meeting.