BonnerSprings.com

John Altevogt has never tried to keep quiet about his disapproval of what he describes as inflated property appraisals in Wyandotte County.

The Edwardsville resident started his crusade when his own property, which he said should be valued at about $125,000, was appraised at about $156,000. The fight has continued through an appeal that he won and then a waiting period to get his refund.

“The bottom line is that the county is not paying their bills,” Altevogt said. “If we (the residents) can’t wait on our bills, why should (the county)?”

Altevogt said that after winning his tax adjustment hearing, he waited more than a month to receive his refund. He was informed Tuesday, after calling the Wyandotte County Appraiser’s Office, that a refund for his 2007 taxes had been sent to his mortgage company.

“That’s just stupid since I’m the one that pays my taxes,” he said. “They should have just sent it to me. Now I have to go through another place and it’s already way, way late.”

Wyandotte County Appraiser Gene Bryant said that one reason for the delayed refund was most likely due to the appraiser’s office switch to a new computer program. Bryant said issues with the program have caused the office procedures to slow down and take longer than usual.

“It’s one of the issues we’re dealing with now,” Bryant said. “We’ve been moving from our old program to a new program and we’ve been stuck in limbo as part of that.”

He said the system was finally up and running fully at the beginning of January after beginning the transition process in October 2008. Bryant said part of the new program would allow the office to have an automated system for the issuance of refunds.

As far as Altevogt’s 2008 taxes, which he said he is also due a refund for, those have yet to arrive. Bryant said his system is showing those taxes have not been paid, which of course means no refund would be issued.

Altevogt said he’s paid the first half of the year and found out on Tuesday that instead of a receiving a refund check, the appraiser’s office has applied the amount as credit on the second half of taxes, which Altevogt said are not due yet.

“This is forcing me to pay my taxes in advance then,” Altevogt said. “It’s inappropriate. They’re forcing me to spend my money in a way that I don’t choose to spend it.”

Altevogt said that even though his personal property tax adjustment is on its way to a solution, a bigger problem still remains. He said that Wyandotte County has been over-appraising properties for a while and now it’s catching up to them.

Altevogt used a recent example of a problem that Edwardsville is now facing due to over-appraisal. Millard Refrigerated Services, 2350 South 98th St., recently won a property tax appeal that reduced its value from $22-25 million to $15 million, which could mean a $250,000 loss in revenues for the city.

Altevogt said the over-appraisals make local governments think they have more money then they actually do.

The cities spend that money, he said, and then the governments are left to clean up the mess after the property owner goes through an adjustment hearing.

“This is the kind of problem that Gene Bryant has afflicted on this county,” Altevogt said. “If they don’t tax us appropriately, they’re going to make a bad, bad mess even worse.”

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