The Village of Henry has asked the Scotts Bluff County Board to help unravel a county-level issue that will cost that community a considerable amount of their typical budget that comes from property taxes.
Board of Trustees member Dawn Bowen Monday told Commissioners the village board learned in mid-September that they lost approximately 42 parcels of land previously inside city limits to the county. With the change, Henry officials saw a drop of more than $1.6 million, down 29% from the 2019 valuation of nearly $5.7 million.
Bowen said there appeared to be some confusion between the assessors office and county mapping department as to the cause when the village clerk began asking questions. “She was told the assessor reduced the valuation on the direction of the Scotts Bluff County Mapping Office, and that the Village of Henry was aware of this. Not a single one of us were aware of this, we had no notification that this action was going to be taken and we were not contacted at all,” said Bowen, “I then went and visited in person with the Mapping Office staff and they were stunned, and had no idea.”
The change cost the community $2,700 in property tax revenue, which Bowen said may not be a large amount of money, but would have a significant impact on the small community.
Members of the village board, County Assessor and Mapping offices, plus the county and village attorneys, are expected to meet soon to try to iron out the issue before property tax bills are sent out later this year.
