The Iowa Department of Revenue is asking a district court to enforce its order that Guthrie County reappraise property owned by County Assessor Nikki Carrick because of “the appearance of a potentially inequitable valuation.”

Carrick’s home at 2262 250th St. in Guthrie Center is assessed at 22% to 51% lower per square foot as compared with five nearby properties reviewed by the revenue department after a citizen raised the concern about potential inequity.

State Revenue Director Kraig Paulsen ordered Guthrie County on May 29 to complete two independent reappraisals by July 31.

Guthrie County officials have refused to comply, citing both cost and state government overreach.

As a result, the revenue department on Thursday filed a petition in Guthrie County District Court asking a judge to confirm its authority and to order the county to comply. The petition names the county's board of review and each of its five members.

The county has already spent in legal fees what the revenue department has estimated the reappraisals would cost.

"The fact that we are going to court to resolve this does not make any sense to me," Paulsen said Thursday. "This could have been resolved very simply by them just validating the assessment" with independent appraisals.

Paulsen's directive is believed to be the first time a county has been ordered to complete an individual property appraisal in the department’s history. Revenue officials say a 1966 Iowa Attorney General opinion confirms the department has the authority to issue a reappraisal.

Carrick in 2017 protested the assessment of the family home she owns with her husband, Lonnie Carrick. As a result, the Guthrie County Board of Review reclassified most of the Carricks' 6.65-acre property from residential to agricultural.

Their entire property is now assessed at $141,400. The home by itself is assessed at $67.37 per square foot. Homes in the revenue department's comparison are assessed between $86.19 and $138.39 per square foot.

Guthrie County officials say Carrick followed the appropriate process that led to most of her 6.65-acre property being reclassified as agricultural. They say the state doesn’t have authority to compel the reappraisals, which revenue officials estimate would cost less than $1,000.

“As such, we will not be complying with this order,” Brett Ryan, a Council Bluffs attorney who represents the Guthrie County Board of Review, wrote in a July 8 letter to the state.

As of June 28, Ryan had billed $958 to defend Guthrie County’s decision to reject the revenue department’s order. He is paid $250 an hour.

Ryan said he had not seen the court motion and was unable to comment Thursday.

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Carrick last week issued a statement saying she protested the assessment before the county's board of review "to take myself completely out of the equation."

The Guthrie County Conference Board issued a separate statement a few days after Carrick’s that said “as a result of the current controversy” it had reviewed the assessment. The revenue department’s review is flawed, the board said in the July 26 news release, because it compares Carrick’s property with those classified as residential and “obviously is not a direct or proper comparison."

“Our review finds that each party acted responsibly,” the board said in its news release. “The result was a fair and equitable assessment.”

Revenue officials have emphasized their review focused on the square-foot assessment of Carrick’s home dwelling, which is classified as residential just like the other properties. They believe their review was fair and justifies independent appraisals.

"You cannot have any appearance of impropriety within the administration of the tax system, in particular when it comes to those who are responsible for its administration," Paulsen said Thursday.