06-01-2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes-June 1, 2009 3521 9. FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE (FMA) PROGRAM APPLICATION County Engineer Keith Berndt was present to discuss the application for funds through the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program. The Flood Buyout Committee has been meeting regularly over the last month and has discussed the buyout process. The county will apply for two types of grants through the FMA program and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Mr. Berndt said the FMA grant is a nationwide competition for the funds and only flood insured properties qualify. The application process opens on June 5th and 107 homes in Cass County are eligible under this program. Applications will be submitted in groups of properties and Lake Agassiz Regional Council (LARC) is working diligently to enter all the necessary data. Mr. Wagner asked about the priority of properties on the buyout list. Mr. Berndt said the committee developed several criteria when developing the list to help determine which properties to include in the program applications. MOTION, passed Mr. Pawluk moved and Mr. Wagner seconded to approve sending the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program application as completed by Lake Agassiz Regional Council and authorize the chair or vice chair to sign the application. On roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. 10. TAX EQUALIZATION BOARD, Convened for 2009 and recessed until June 15th Chairwoman Sorum convened the Cass County Board of Tax Equalization for 2009. Frank Klein, Director of Equalization, referred to his letter dated May 22, 2009, concerning the annual equalization of assessments. He suggested the board consider any individual appeals today and he will provide recommendations on the appeals at the next meeting. The following individuals were present to discuss appeals on three properties within West Acres Shopping Center: Don Barnhill, Property Tax Consultant for Herberger's; Kevin Shevlin, Senior Manager of Property Tax Division for Macy's Inc.; and James Cobb, State Tax Manager of Tax Services for JCPenney's. Mr. Barnhill distributed information to the board. He believes the 2009 true and full value of $6,828,000 on Herberger's Department Store should be reduced to $4,450,000. He discussed rental rates for anchor department stores versus big box retailers. Mr. Barnhill said market rent for anchor stores is unique from other property types because the rent is directly related to actual sales, which are down because of slower economic times. He suggested using percentage of gross sales approach to calculate the real estate rental rate or a flat rental rate to determine the value on anchor stores. Mr. Shevlin distributed information to the board. He believes the 2009 true and full value of $7,856,000 on Macy's Inc. should be reduced to $5,400,000. Their appeal is based on comparable sales of mall anchor department stores supported by a stabilized sales volume analysis. Mr. Cobb distributed information to the board. He believes the 2009 true and full value of $9,473,000 on JCPenney's Company, Inc. should be reduced to $7,000,000. He used an income approach based on percentage of rent to arrive at the $7,000,000 figure.