Juneau couple's appeal of a 185% assessment jump goes back before the city board

Juneau's Board of Equalization was scheduled Thursday to rehear Brent and Erin Howell's appeal of their Glacier Highway property's assessment, which nearly tripled this year. The city hadn't posted a result or a recording by Thursday night.

The property was assessed at about $1.25 million for three straight years. This year, the city valued it at nearly $3.6 million.

"While we know we were likely undervalued previously, an increase like this is absurd," Erin Howell wrote to the board in July.

The board can lower the value, send it back to the assessor again or let it stand. It can't raise it unless the owners ask.

For 2026, the Assessor's Office began valuing office and retail buildings by the rent they bring in and the cost of running them. Values for those buildings rose an average of 14% under the new method. The office said the Howells' property, the Squires Building at 11806 Glacier Highway, had been significantly undervalued compared with typical properties.

After the board sent the case back in July, the owners gave the assessor a list of what their tenants pay. The office then trimmed its recommendation to about $3.35 million, still about $915,000 more than the Howells say the property is worth. The office says the land alone is worth $2 million to $2.5 million, and that the owners' own estimate "supports only the land value."

Howell questioned why the city, if it values buildings by their income, doesn't count their actual expenses. She also wrote that the assessor's appraiser told her extra land on the 2.43-acre site was folded into the building's value because "there's not a better way to do it and that CBJ is working on it."

A decision needs two of the three panel members. If no motion gets two votes, the appeal is denied. Either way, the owners can appeal to superior court within 30 days.