Greene County attorney Thomas Laehn called a settlement in a dispute over the property valuation of Wild Rose Casino “the best outcome the county could get under the circumstances.”
Laehn told the county supervisors at the Jan. 27 meeting that the Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB) recently heard an appeal of the assessment of Wild Rose Casino in Clinton and decided in favor of the casino. The Clinton County assessor had valued the property at $27 million, while the casino owners claimed a value of $21.5 million.
Laehn had been watching that case closely as he prepared to represent Greene County in a similar case. Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson was assessed at $20,751,500. Casino owners appealed the assessment, saying the building should be valued at $15.5 million due to depreciation.
In preparing for the appeal, Greene County assessor Adam Smith had hired the same expert witness Clinton County used.
After hearing the decision in the Clinton appeal, Laehn assumed the Greene County appeal would go the same way and began “serious negotiations” with casino owners. They came to a four-year agreement. The taxable valuation will be $18,144,000 for tax years 2023 and 2024, and $19 million for tax years 2025 and 2026.
“It’s not the outcome we wanted, but it could have been worse,” Smith said.
Laehn told the supervisors Clinton County paid an outside attorney $30,000 to argue the appeal. Greene County incurred no legal costs as Laehn was prepared to argue the appeal. That was scheduled for next week.
Laehn also reported that Iowa Court Administration Services had shortchanged Greene County $34,480 over the past four years. That state office collects court fines and costs and distributes them to the counties in which the court cases were heard. However, the job wasn’t done right and every county received less than it should have, with the larger counties being shorted significant amounts. He said he’s watching larger counties to see if they litigate to try to reclaim funds they were due.
Finally, Laehn commended sheriff deputy Chris Frehse and the Greene County Homeless Coalition for finding shelter for a homeless person who was a defendant in a court case during the bitter cold weather a week ago. Laehn said Frehse showed “great empathy and support” for the person.
The supervisors approved the wage publication report for 2024. It is posted with the minutes under the Calendar/Agenda tab on GreeneCountyNewsOnline.
The supervisors heard a FY26 budget request of $279,144 from treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen. That’s an increase of $3,533 over the current year.
Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins presented the clerk of court budget request. Clerk of court is requesting $136,300, an increase of $14,800 over the current year. The increases are due to the increased cost of the Westlaw subscription for the law library and increased cost of juvenile detention and shelter care.
The supervisors also reviewed their own budget needs for the next fiscal year. Their budget is $263,780, an increase of $10,207 over the current year. The increase is due to wages, increased cost of legal publications, and additional postage for the mailings required by HF718 (notice of all property tax levies mailed to every property owner in the county).
