While the majority of Blaine County property owners are experiencing dramatic increases in their property values, Sun Valley Resort may be undervalued by as much as half, according to a Sun Valley resident who approached the Blaine County Commission Tuesday afternoon.
At the behest of Sun Valley resident Matt Colesworthy, the Blaine County Commission informally agreed to consider hiring an independent property appraisal specialist to straighten out potential discrepancies. At the very least, commissioners will continue to talk about the issue.
"We will have further discussions on this," said Blaine County Commission Chair Sarah Michael. "But it's not a perfect art until we get disclosure (of sales prices)."
Disclosure is when states require sales prices to be made public. Idaho, thus far, has declined to require disclosure.
Sun Valley Co.'s property holdings value $124 million, including personal property. If calculated using only real property, the value is closer to $71 million, agreed Terry Whipple, the tax director for Sinclair Oil, Sun Valley Co.'s parent company. Both companies are part of Earl Holding's Intermountain empire of hotels, oil refineries and resorts.
But Colesworthy said the reason he raised the issue is because he believes Blaine County homeowners may be paying too much in property taxes. If Sun Valley resort were assessed at a higher value, the distribution of taxes in the county would change and become easier for common homeowners.
"Having this type of asset under-valued in this community is not good because if it's undervalued, we're paying too much," Colesworthy said.
But William McCann, of the Sun Valley Appraisal Co., said Colesworthy's estimates may not be entirely accurate.
"You've got to look at the economics to do it right," he said. "A look at the books would help, but Sun Valley won't let us look at their books. If the resort is doing well, it would behoove everybody so a standup job can be done of it."
Whipple said it may be difficult to provide a look at Sun Valley's accounting records.
"Mr. Holding is a very private man, and we don't often share the books without his permission," he said.
What's more, Whipple said the Sun Valley valuations look good.
"We've accepted that the assessment is what it is, so the assessment is just right," he said, following comments that the company had considered appealing this year's assessment.
Blaine County's assessed property values made a record leap this year, catapulting from $8 billion to $9.7 billion, a 21 percent increase. This year's boost in values only slightly toped last year's 20 percent increase.
Even so, only 50-odd property owners appealed the increases. In general, properties in the southern parts of the county inflated most dramatically. In Carey, for example, residential property values are up 175 percent. In the southern Hailey neighborhood of Woodside, residential property values jumped between 65 percent and 135 percent. In Bellevue, property values jumped 65 percent.
But residential properties are only a slice of the overall market. Commercial properties experienced significant increases as well, increasing 30 percent to 40 percent. And Sun Valley's assessed value rose this year, too.
Although Colesworthy raised the issue to discuss Sun Valley's valuation, Idaho House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet said that an across-the-board look needs to be taken to ensure that an even playing field is in place.
"I think some people are paying less than their fair share, and some are paying more than their fair share," she said.
