Six months after many residents across the county opened their mail to learn that the property value of their homes had drastically increased — some by as much as 45% — many business owners will be seeing a similar letter in the mail this week.

According to Webster County Assessor Angie Vinson, every odd year, assessors offices across the state are required to do an “equalization” to update the assessed value of properties within its jurisdiction.

The assessor’s office and the Iowa Department of Revenue monitor sales to help determine value. State law requires property values to be equal to 100% market value of what a willing buyer and willing seller will pay for a property, Vinson said.

“If we’re not at that 100%, changes need to be made,” she said. “We did make changes in the spring and sent notices out, but the state said that we needed to raise commercial properties another 14%. … They felt that we did not raise them enough in the spring.”

Several counties across the state received similar feedback from the state, requiring additional increases to different types of property.

Vinson said that the Webster County Auditor’s Office will be sending out the new notices to commercial property owners this week and the protest period will be open from Monday through Oct. 31.

The letter will include the steps property owners need to take if they feel their new assessment is not a fair value. However, Vinson said, those property owners will need to bring evidence to support their argument that the assessed value is inaccurate.