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After many years without a countywide reappraisal of commercial properties, the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to hire a firm to complete the task by January 2030. 

The contract, with Vanguard Appraisals Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, totals over $600,000, said Freeborn County Administrator Melanie Aeschliman.

Aeschliman said through sales data, the county is seeing a disparity in commercial valuations, and the state has also noted it in its review. The reappraisal would be done to equalize assessments in the county in compliance with state laws and the rules and policies of the Minnesota Department of Revenue. 

Vanguard, under the contract, will come in and do a complete reappraisal of all commercial properties to make sure taxes are distributed fairly, noting that residential properties have likely been paying more than their fair share, she said. 

With the contract signed, the company could begin at any time doing a few appraisals a month but would likely begin the bulk of the work in the spring of 2028. 

Fourth District Commissioner Chris Shoff was the lone opponent to the vote and questioned why the department heads in the assessor’s office and the administrators in the past did not address the issue  and questioned how much money has been spent over and above the assessor’s budget in the last few years. 

“I get a little nervous in coming to a meeting today and saying you have to pass this because we have to have it signed by the end of the month,” he said. 

Shoff asked how long this has been a problem, and Aeschliman said it had been “several years.”

“This did not happen overnight,” she said. “This is years in the making.”

He said the county is within the parameters set by the state but noted valuations have been all over the map and contentious for many years. He said he wished the board could take time with the new assessor and formulate a plan to address the issue. 

“We’ve had this problem for years,” he said. “For some reason there’s been a lack of communication between the department head and administration and/or administration to the board. Now we get it. Now we get it and we have to spend — we’ve been spending money on this for a while and now we have to spend more.”

Fifth District Commissioner Nicole Eckstrom asked Aeschliman to comment on why the county’s newly hired assessor couldn’t take on the project. 

Aeschliman said the county’s commercial properties are vast and for one new assessor to come in and pick this up and get it done would be unrealistic given his other duties. 

Second District Commissioner Dawn Kaasa said she didn’t think it was fair to dump this project on the assessor’s office with the new assessor and said if they did, it would be likely that the department would come asking for another employee, which would probably equate to the same amount as the Vanguard contract. 

Eckstrom said with the turnover that has happened in the department, it will be good to have this in place in the event there are any other changes, though she hoped for longevity with the new assessor.

To address the comment about the communication between the department head and the administrator and the board, Chairman Brad Edwin said it happened because of the lack of leadership skills and the inability to manage. 

“It all starts with the department head and their team and then bringing it forth to the administrator,” Edwin said. “That can easily be remedied with the right leaders in place.” 

Kaasa said while the board can’t go back and fix the past — it can only learn from it and do what they can to fix it. 

“I wasn’t here 15 years ago, but I know the issue is there and it’s our responsibility as the current board to do what we can to fix it,” Kaasa said. 

Aeschliman said commercial property in the county is fairly equalized as a class but is not equalized when it looks at all of the classes. She noted that the new assessor and others in the department would also receive new training on commercial assessments through Vanguard as part of the process. 

During the workshop last week, the commissioners talked about how to pay for the contract and whether the county could use some of the money that was recently decommitted from the highway department or other funds. 

Eckstrom said the issue has “huge importance,” and now that the board understands what is happening, it has to get it taken care of. 

“It’s a big price tag, but we owe it to the tax payer,” she said. 

As part of the contract, the county will be responsible for office space for the personnel of the company and shall supply computer hardware necessary for the project.

The resolution states the company will strive to gain entry to all commercial properties, and property owners will be asked to sign a field worksheet showing that they gave permission to inspect the interior.

Vanguard will have informal hearings with taxpayers so each property owner will have the opportunity to view and discuss his or her property values.