The Rugby City Council, ND, acting as the city's tax equalization board, voted 7-1 to accept property valuations from Vanguard Appraisals at a public tax equalization meeting. Being the sole no vote, Councilman Terry Wentz said that the motion to accept the valuations should be based on correcting inaccurate information contained in the appraisals.
"I think this information is important," Wentz told the Pierce County Tribune. "We spent a lot of money on these appraisals and I encourage people to go on that website and look. There are errors."
Pierce County Tax Director Kelsey Siegler said that as a result of the appraisals, true and full values of residential property increased from over $106 million last year to over $121 million in 2016.
“Commercial property values increased by $20 million as opposed to more than $31.3 million last year. The values of agricultural land, which are determined through state figures, decreased from $299,125 to $260, 610,” Siegler said. “Taxes from one mill have increased from $6,355.22 in 2015 to $8,045.87 in 2016.”