'Very unusual': Private citizen trying to change other homeowners' assessments in Polk County
It's a shock for the owners of some million-dollar homes in Polk County. Someone they don't know is asking the Polk County Assessor’s Office to raise or lower their new property assessments.
The assistant Polk County auditor, Carl Wiederaenders, has decided 23 Polk County properties are incorrectly assessed. He's not acting as a county employee, but as a private citizen. And the Polk County assessor is not happy about it — even though it's all legal.
"Very unusual. In the 43 years that I've worked here, I've never seen anything like this," Polk County Assessor Randy Ripperger said.
Rippereger told vlog that he's been getting complaints from 23 homeowners. Many of them received a notice in the mail from a man they don't know.
Most of the homeowners live in homes worth $1 million or more. They are scattered around the county — primarily in Des Moines and West Des Moines. Wiederaenders sent them official-looking notices. Most of the letters say their homes should have higher assessments and, in a few cases, lower assessments. The letter goes on to say that Wiederaenders has officially filed a protest with the assessor’s office.
"If you own property in Polk County, you can file a protest on any other property in Polk County on behalf of the public," Ripperger said.
Iowa law allows it, but Ripperger says it's strange that a fellow Polk County employee is doing this on his own.
"To me, it appears there is a rogue employee in the building. It's not my employee, so I don't have any control over him at all," Ripperger said.
vlog reached out to Wiederaender’s boss, Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald, who confirms Wiederaenders is doing this assessment protest on his own time and does not have the blessing of the auditor's office.
Wiederanders' letters look official and use language like the "assessment value versus sale price is not justified," even though that is just his opinion.
"To me, it kind of gives all of us in Polk County a black eye, I mean, this is so unusual, atypical that a county employee would do something like this. But, like I say, I have no control over him," Ripperger said.
vlog reached out to Wiederaenders, who sent the following statement:
"The citizens of Polk County deserve an equitable system that treats its residents the same way. Everyone knows the current property tax assessment system is flawed. Iowa law allows all taxpayers the right to protest their, or any other taxpayers’ assessment, if they think it is too high or too low.
"Assessments by law are supposed to be 100% of fair market value as of Jan. 1. Fair market value is a legal term defined as the most probable price which a property would bring on the open market given prudent, knowledgeable, and willing buyers and sellers. Fair market value is the standard by which the fairness of all assessments is judged.
"I objected to fewer than 25 properties that sold in 2022, thereby establishing a property-specific Fair Market Value. Some of these assessments are more than 30% or 40% lower than the sold price (FMV established ) just a few months earlier. These examples will demonstrate the inequities and lead to a more fair and equitable system for all Polk County taxpayers."