The home then resold in April for $209,000, meaning the last sale has not yet factored into Douglas County’s calculations.
New owner Patricia Plonsker said she was sure she had overpaid for the house, which had come in before the foreclosure. But she said she loves the historic touches of the 112-year-old home and its fabulous neighborhood.
Plonsker said she was cutting costs significantly by moving out of the downtown Paxton condominiums. The property taxes there, she said, had gotten outrageous on the higher-value condo, and she wanted to find a neighborhood where she could lower those taxes.
Plonsker said officials would be wise to establish some sort of property tax relief to encourage homeowners to “urban pioneer” in certain neighborhoods.
In the coming months, Battiato said, his office will rework the neighborhood boundaries — what he calls market areas — that he uses to analyze comparable assessments. This will allow the office to better respond to areas with more activity, said Zachary Bass, real estate specialist at the appraiser’s office.
For this year, Battiato said it has taken steps to respond to the county council and affected property owners. But she said it can skew some numbers too low.