Anchorage board sets seven property appeal hearings for next week

Anchorage property owners filed 1,953 assessment appeals this year, a record. The Board of Equalization holds seven more half-day hearings next week to work through them.

Some of that work is already done. A municipal review found about 660 homes were over-assessed and slated for lower valuations before the hearings began.

Assessments rose across the board. Condominium values went up 5.8 percent on average and single-family home values 3.5 percent, excluding new construction, according to the Property Appraisal Division.

The board is a quasi-judicial body of private citizens and local professionals appointed by the Assembly, with the power to change an assessment. It takes evidence and issues binding decisions the way a court does, and it is not an advocate for the Municipality or for the property owner.

The Assembly filled all 21 seats over three meetings this year, which chair Ian Moore said was the first time in at least two decades. "With 1,953 appeals, it's time to get to work," he said.

Hearings run Sept. 14, 15, 17 and 18 at City Hall, mornings from 8:30 am to noon and afternoons from 1 to 4:30 pm, except Sept. 17, which is afternoon only. Board liaison Cassie Marlovits is the contact, at 907-343-6821.