By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall

Lake County Auditor Chris Galloway

We sent the following email to Lake County Auditor Chris Galloway, and received a prompt response from him. As always, we appreciate Auditor Galloway’s transparency with the citizens.

Auditor Galloway:

Attached is the tax bill for the Eastlake Acquisition Company, LLC showing the details of their appraised values and taxes due.  I find it curious that the value per acre for the company’s land is vastly different from the land values of two homes located on the lake not far from the power plant.

I also noted that the appraised value  of the “improvements” in the  power plant is $66,237,190.  I assume that is the amount that the power plant lawyers are disputing and want to reduce to zero.

Interestingly, if the power plant’s appraised value of the land was valued as the home value per acre, down the street from their location, the power plant’s land value would be over $88 million. [120.336 x $739,393 = $88,975,709]  So the appraised value of improvements could be reduced to zero if the same land valuation is used for the power plant as the value per acre for the homes.  This could mean more tax collected from the power plant, and therefore reduce the local taxes for the citizens.

Why is there such a disparity in the value per acre on waterfront land?

Thank you for any assistance you can provide in clearing up this complex issue.  I will let the people know.

Here is Auditor Galloway’s response to us:

There is a difference between Class 1 and Class 2 land values as well as improved and unimproved. It’s apples and oranges.

Even when residential and industrial lands are adjacent to each other, their values can differ significantly due to their distinct purposes and the factors influencing each type of land. For residential land, the value is often tied to the desirability of living conditions of living conditions, or location and different factors such as safety, access to amenities such as schools and parks – or in the examples you used – living on the lake with a pristine, usable beach.

On the other hand, industrial land is driven by factors that support business operations, such as access to transportation networks, proximity to suppliers and markets,  and zoning regulations that allow for industrial activities. The presence of residential areas nearby might not significantly impact industrial land value and vice versa, unless there are restrictions imposed by zoning laws or community opposition to industrial activities.

In terms of purchase appeal, residential and industrial lands attract different types of buyers with distinct priorities and considerations. Again, these are market driven.

In this situation we have a very specific business entity with a very small pool of buyers and on the other hand Lake Front properties with much wider pool of potential buyers. Due to the complexity of a power plant how we could derive the land value is not necessarily the same way as it is for residential properties due to lack of comparable sales. Although there was a sale in September of 2023 of the Eastlake facility, we do not know how much it was sold for bc [because] it has not been disclosed.

Chris

Here is Auditor’s map of the property owned by Eastlake Acquisition Company, LLC.

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Categories: Eastlake, Lake County - General, Real Estate Taxes

Tags: FT, Property Tax